The Demon of Sansburg Hall
by nightwish435
Summary: A few weeks after the events of "The Hate He Never Knew", Armin Arlert is safe in a place far from the grasp of Kayla and the other Sansburg Hall girls. However, as his grudge against them seethes and deepens, so to do numerous horrific occurrences happen on the 4th floor of Sansburg, and behind the scenes, the sad truth about the death of Annie's previous best friend is revealed.
1. Meetings

_As I suspected, those bitches wouldn't stop hounding Armin after he left Sansburg Hall. A few weeks after he had moved into Wickson, their leader Kayla began to plot an attempt on his happiness and sanity, to remind him that she was still around._

 _Don't be afraid. He survived._

 _But them?_

 _Oh, dear. I know that Armin doesn't approve of my malice, but every time I remember their nightmares, their illusions, their agony, a sneer always crosses my face._

 _You see, Armin apparently left behind a lot of pain and rage in room 415 of Sansburg Hall. All of that negativity was like an open wound, gradually becoming more and more infected until disturbing events occurred on that floor. I still can't understand exactly what happened, but it's clear to me that his hatred was turned against them somehow._

 _And so, allow me to relate to you what happened after Armin left Sansburg Hall._

* * *

Armin sat in on his bed in room 327 of Wickson Hall, reading a book on how Mozart composed his pieces. It was now the beginning of March, and as spring drew ever closer, he felt that he was slowly able to put the painful past of Sansburg Hall behind him.

" _I'll never go back to that damned dormitory!"_ he thought furiously. _"And now, I'm safe from Kayla's slimy clutches!"_

His angry brooding was interrupted by sudden laughter outside his door and down the hall. Armin felt his body tense up in panic, as the terrifying notion that Kayla could find him even in Wickson hadn't left him yet.

The terror didn't leave him until he realized that the cheery, loud voices couldn't possibly belong to Kayla and her gang. Two guys and a girl were chattering away down the hall, and Armin was relieved to accept that none of his enemies had suddenly come to hunt him down.

"Just go talk to him already, Reiner!" one of the boys shouted exasperatedly. "It's already been, like, 4 weeks since he came here, and you've waited long enough."

"Yeah, Reiner, stop being so shy and just go flirt with him for goodness' sake!" the girl said, and the other guy groaned.

Armin had to stifle his giggling as he heard the 3rd person retort.

"Back off, you two! I know he's shy, and I wanted to give him some space for a while, so that he would hopefully ease up around me. I still remember those looks of panic that kid gave me when he first saw me back in February, and I don't want to do anything to provoke that fear again."

Any bit of humor in Armin vanished, and he gawked at the door as he realized that the friendly blonde giant from his first day back in Wickson Hall was talking about him.

"Not to mention, I really don't know how to begin talking to him," the guy named Reiner said sheepishly. "I'm worried that I'll be too intense, y'know?"

The other two students laughed heartily, and the girl told him "If that's the case, we'll just have to give you a gentle push in the right direction! Giddy up, boy!"

Reiner yelled in alarm, and to Armin's shock, massive footsteps could be heard suddenly pounding towards his room. Without further warning, a nasty whacking noise was heard on the door, coupled with the sound of Reiner cursing in pain.

"Dammit Sasha, what the hell?!"

Sasha cackled and told him "That's the gentle push for ya!"

"Yeah, right. So much for 'gentle'."

Armin got off his bed, creeped over to the peephole, and saw Reiner looking down nervously at his door, with a brunette girl in a pony-tail and a short guy with a buzz cut flanking him, both looking too excited.

" _Uh…well…this really wasn't how I imagined striking up a talk with this gentle titan of a guy. Strange…he's like an earnest version of my dad."_

He gripped the door handle, and slowly yanked the door back, and Armin watched the odd trio stiffen comically.

For an awkward moment, Reiner and Armin stood locked in each other's gaze, amber eyes zoomed in on large, innocent blues. At last, after long weeks of silence since that day outside the restroom, Reiner broke the pause.

"H-hey!" he said to Armin, grinning and offering a large hand to him. "I'm Reiner from down the hall. These are Connie and Sasha, my friends."

Armin beamed up at him, took the offered hand gladly, and noticed with giddiness that his smile made Reiner blush profusely. Connie and Sasha were smiling at him too, and the sheer difference in hospitality between Sansburg and Wickson astounded him.

"Nice to meet you guys! I'm Armin, Jean's roommate. I transferred here from Sansburg Hall a few weeks ago."

The three friends grimaced in unison, and Armin cocked an eyebrow at them in confusion. Connie groaned and placed a sympathetic hand on Armin's shoulder.

"Dude, I'm sorry, that sucks. I've heard horrid things about that place."

" _This guy, too? Why the heck does Sansburg have such an awful reputation?"_ Armin thought, recalling a similar remark from Mikasa at the beginning of fall semester.

Connie went on, telling him "All three of us, hell, the whole campus knows that pretty much all of the people in Sansburg Hall are anti-social as all get out. Not to mention, I've heard that cliques are a serious problem there."

The instant Connie mentioned cliques, a painful shadow fell on Armin's face, and his three floor mates gave him alarmed looks.

"I…know a lot about the stupid cliques in Sansburg…" he muttered to them, and Reiner bit his lip in pity.

No amount of sleep, no amount of trying to bury the memories away had been able to erase the image of half of the 4th floor screaming taunts at him daily, spreading those malicious notes about him over the floor, and more than anything else, the horrific note that Kayla had slid under his door telling him to kill himself.

Reiner gently asked him "Do you want to talk about it, buddy?"

"Did somebody bother you? Cause I'll kick some ass if you need me too!" Sasha shouted, comically flexing her biceps.

Connie's grimace deepened, and he mumbled "Yup, just like this whole campus knows, Sansburg is a poisonous place."

Armin felt another massive wave of exhaustion hit him like a truck, and he wearily told them "I really appreciate you guys reaching out to me, I do. Chances are, I do need to talk it out, but…right now, I need sleep."

Reiner glanced at his friends, and they both nodded at him with a sly wink. It was a humorously romantic scene that warmed Armin's heart.

"Gotcha. Armin, bud, can I have your phone number? To talk later, and…so that you have somebody on this floor along with Jean for you to lean on."

Armin's own cheeks flushed crimson, and he hastily pulled his phone out of his pocket, a thousand thoughts flying around in his head. He had been dreaming and daydreaming about finally talking with the kind stranger with the handsome smile ever since he had moved into Wickson, and with that moment finally attained, he was beside himself with happiness.

The two boys exchanged phone numbers, both of them blushing, with Sasha and Connie clapping their hands excitedly like school children. When Reiner and Armin finished, Reiner patted the smaller boy softly on the shoulder, and gave him one last smile.

"It's gonna be ok, buddy. I promise."

At that remark, Armin felt tears suddenly spring up in the back of his eyes, and all he could do was nod and hurriedly back up into his room, waving goodbye at the trio before he shut the door. He heard them walk away back down the hall, Connie and Sasha loudly congratulating Reiner on his successful endeavor.

With nobody watching him, Armin allowed the tears to spill over his cheeks, a newfound pang of grief mixing in with the exhaustion dragging him down. To his dismay, every bit of pain that he had felt from the events in Sansburg Hall hadn't disappeared whatsoever, and the memories of his tormented experiences continued to haunt him.

" _I know I'm not weak for crying, but…I wish the tears would stop flowing. It's so frustrating that I can't just heal already. I don't want this, I don't want this stupid emotional burden!"_

His face slowly contorted into a hideous snarl as the image of Kayla's laughing, malicious face provoked the well of anger within him that had been newfound since that bizarre moment with the disembodied voice.

" _And I want them to suffer for what they put me through!"_

* * *

On the 4th floor of Sansburg Hall, the old gray paint beginning to peel away, Kayla and her group of girls sat huddled around the lounge's table, snickering about what they had done to Armin Arlert.

"Poor baby's probably huddled up in his hole, scared shitless of us now!" Kayla told them, still reveling in what she refused to believe was anything but a cowardly move on Armin's part to flee from her sight.

" _That freaky woman…no, I won't accept it! No way would God protect a faggot like him!"_

Everything had changed so fast on her floor the instant she woke up from that terrifying nightmare of that puny blonde kid shrieking in violent fury, and the appearances of both the woman in black, along with Annie Leonhardt of all people, the vicious upperclassmen from her Christian high school who had been their group's ultimate menace.

Hardly anything had changed since Armin's disappearance, except for the paint starting to peel, and Hannah, their demure R.A., casting disdainful glances at them whenever she passed them by. Hannah Diamant was clearly hiding some sort of disgust for Kayla and her friends, but Kayla didn't care. She had ensured that her letters and everything else couldn't be tracked back to her, because unless Hannah and their cold-minded R.H.D. Levi brought in a forensics person, there was no way they could prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the notes had been written by her.

To her left was Elise, silent as always, and looking peculiarly downtrodden. Though nobody had brought the topic up out of utter disinterest, the whole group had taken notice of Elise's recent despondent look that had come about since the night that Armin had left the floor.

" _Whatever. Even if she does have second thoughts about him, it doesn't matter jack crap. She's as much embroiled in this as the rest of us…and those pictures on her phone are sure to keep her trapped in that knowledge."_

For every single letter that Kayla had written, she had made Elise take pictures of them, so that when the time was right, Kayla would have her upload them all to the campus web, ensuring that the memory of their control would never leave Armin while he was still a student.

To her right, Clair sneered and said to them "I still can't believe he refused to be a man, stay and face us all to the end. What a coward. But I guess that's how all fags work."

Besides Elise, who was deliberately glancing away from them, they all nodded and laughed in agreement.

Kayla looked around at her group, and proudly declared to them "I have a plan to remind that brat what his place is, and that no matter what, he can't hide from us. I just found out from a bit of research that Armin works at the campus bookstore. I plan to drop by and…surprise him."

Her friends giggled maliciously in approval, and Clair said to her "Good. Tell me what happens asap. I want that freak punished after apparently having a crush on my boyfriend!"

Clair had glimpsed Armin and Shane, her blonde hunk of a man, gazing at each other in a more than friendly way one night while she had brought him onto the floor lounge. She had been livid ever since, and the whole group was aware that the mere notion that Armin could distract Shane from her was a huge motivator for her to hate him even more.

"You bet I will!" Kayla replied, as she rose up from her chair and stretched. "I'm going to find him tomorrow morning, and I can't wait to see the look on his face when he realizes that he couldn't escape me forever!"

* * *

Kayla threw the doors of the bookshop open and sauntered in, glaring around her, looking for Armin so that she could begin. She found him sitting absentmindedly at the front desk, seemingly not noticing her as she stormed up to him.

As her footsteps drew closer, he raised his head to look at her, and Kayla paused in confusion when she saw the vacant smile plastered on his face.

"Oh, there you are. I was wondering when you would…er, grace me with your presence. I've been expecting you. So rude of you to keep me waiting like this. Surely a bitch of your caliber would be capable of moving faster than this, hm?"

Kayla snarled at the boy, and snapped "Shut it! Don't you think I'll let you get away with that tone! I came here to remind you who's boss. Just because you got to move out of Sansburg doesn't mean that you can hide from me forever!"

Armin watched her with an unflinching gaze, his smile not budging a bit. He casually walked out from behind his desk, and walked towards Kayla, the girl feeling a sense of strange terror wash over her as she watched him come closer.

"Hide from you? You must be joking, Kayla. I haven't been 'hiding' from you. I've merely been lying in wait, waiting for you to finally show your ugly face once more. Waiting for my opportunity to show **you** just how cruel I can be."

Kayla involuntarily shuddered, and took a step back.

"H-hey…what are you-"

"You stupid bitch. You tried to make me kill myself, you encouraged the whole floor to hate me, to want me to hurt, and you have the audacity to think that I'm not affected by that? No, Kayla. I won't let you get away with what you did. When the time is right, I'll hunt you down, and use you as a warning to each and every piece of trash on that floor that Armin Arlert is out for blood."

At that, Kayla watched Armin's placid smile twist into a sneer, as he whispered sinisterly " _And I'm going to enjoy watching you_ _ **suffer**_ _!"_

* * *

Kayla bolted upright in her bed as she suddenly snapped out of the nightmare, taking rapid, panicked breathes and covered in sweat. For some reason, nothing in the dream had tipped her off that she wasn't in reality, and the entire scene itself felt full of raw malice.

" _T-that was a_ _ **dream**_ _?!"_ she thought in bewilderment, as she tried to calm down. _"That was too vivid for a normal dream!"_

" _Armin…he looked like he…_ _ **like he wanted to kill me**_ _!"_


	2. Harbinger

_The 4_ _th_ _floor of Sansburg Hall was covered in a pitch darkness, the only thing visible being the faint outlines of the doors lining both sides of the floor._

 _The deep silence of the darkened halls was interrupted by the creaking of the door to room 415 on the hall's right side. The wooden frame disappeared slowly into the darkness of the room it guarded, and then, the resident announced its existence._

 _A slender, pale arm reached out from the void of the room, groping around as it extended, the hand moving about slowly, groping and searching._

 _It suddenly flipped its hand and retracted, beckoning with a fragile, curving finger as it slipped away back into the shadows of its room. With that, the hall slowly faded away into nothingness._

* * *

As she slowly sat up in bed, unnerved once more from the recently recurring dream, Elise pondered what it meant. The symbolic importance of the beckoning hand wasn't lost on her; but the question that lay heavy on her mind was, why her?

" _Did Armin know all this time that I don't actually hate him?"_ she wondered as she got up and got ready for the day.

" _Assuming that the arm I keep seeing is_ _ **his**_ _, beckoning me to enter room 415…what am I supposed to find in there? All there is now is an empty room with nobody living there…right?"_

It was an extremely disturbing notion to her, that something still lived in 415 even after Armin had abandoned it weeks ago. And even more, Elise couldn't understand why she was apparently the only person in Kayla's group having dreams related to the boy they had nearly tormented to death.

None of them had changed their daily attitude of cackling over what they had done, and mocking him in passing for leaving Sansburg Hall. And while she knew that her emotions were becoming more and more obvious with each passing day, none of the other girls had bothered to confront Elise on the fact that she was displeased with the cruelty they held in their hearts.

When she walked outside of her door, she saw that nobody else was in sight. The eerie arm from her dream piqued her curiosity, and Elise ventured down the hall towards room 415, not sure of what she would see, if anything.

She arrived just outside the door, and when she took a closer look at the wood of the door, Elise did a double-take. Inscribed on the door, in faintly glowing blue and a gentle, loopy script were the words:

" _Come and see"_

Elise looked around her to see if anybody was watching her gawk at the door to 415, and when she confirmed that she was still alone, she bent forward, and realized that she wasn't still dreaming. Without a doubt, somebody had carved words into the door to Armin's old room; Elise had an unsettling thought occur to her that the messenger had left it solely for her eyes.

To her right, the door to the R.A. room opened, and Hannah came out, yawning and still groggy. She saw Elise standing outside 415, and approached her warily.

"Elise?" Hannah cautiously asked her. "What are you…doing?"

The cat was out of the bag, and Elise gulped nervously.

"Um…" she began. "I had a really weird dream about room 415, and that's why I'm here. Have you seen this weird writing on the door?"

Elise pointed to the writing, and watched as Hannah squinted at it. After a moment, Hannah turned to her, and gave her an utterly confused look.

"What writing are you talking about, Elise?" she asked her.

The writing on the door didn't fade away when Elise turned to glance at it again, but for whatever reason, Hannah couldn't tell that it was there. Elise bit her lip nervously, and helplessly shrugged her shoulders, unsure of what to say.

Hannah sighed and told her "Maybe its stress, Elise. You're probably not sleeping enough. But damn, I've never heard of somebody imagining weird writing on doors when they're wiped out."

Her R.A. waved goodbye at her and walked away and to the stairwell, where she disappeared out of sight. Elise was left to stand perplexed at the sheer oddity of the situation before her. It seemed her hunch was right.

" _Has nobody else been able to see this? And these words…"_

The image of the pale arm beckoning to her flashed in her mind, and Elise shuddered as it dawned on her what the meaning of the dream had to be.

" _Is Armin somehow calling me to 'come and see' the truth about him?"_

A dry, cold laugh rang in the back of her mind, and Elise shuddered as she heard the ominous voice of the Watcher woman whisper to her.

" _ **The cowards that wounded Armin Arlert will be ruined by the truth hiding beyond this door."**_

* * *

Armin and Annie sat together at one of the tables in their favorite cafeteria, idly munching away at soggy pieces of campus pizza. Their day was a slow one, and had been stagnant the whole morning, with their mutual Japanese class turned into an unfortunately drab lecture.

"How's Wickson?" Annie asked him, pausing to wipe her mouth with a napkin.

Armin felt a small smile break on his face, and Annie's eyebrow perked up in question.

"It's going so good, Annie," he told her, his last text conversation with Reiner still fueling his joy. "The people there are so much nicer than the scumbags in Sansburg."

"That's good to hear," she replied, folding her napkin and then smirking at him. "So tell me then, who's the guy you met?"

He gawked at her and mumbled "H-how-"

"Armin, please, it's written all over your face, especially that dreamy, far-away look in your eyes."

Armin giggled and told her all bout Reiner, who he was quickly opening up to through texts and their occasional encounters in the hallway. Annie nodded along, her brow creased in thought, and suddenly, she gasped.

"Wait a minute, Reiner Braun? Real tall, real big, and lackadaisical?!"

The memory of Reiner complaining about Sasha's "gentle push" provoked Armin into another fit of giggles, and he nodded at her.

Annie looked amazed, and she told him "He…damn, he's from my high school! He was one of our football team's linebackers, and his best friend Bertolt…"

At the mention of the name "Bertolt", Annie's face fell a bit, and Armin hesitantly asked her "Annie…is he the guy you told me about, that night together at the café downtown?"

She looked him dead in the eye and muttered "Yup. He was one of the strongest runners for the team, and ended up becoming a major jackass for a while because of his status. He pushed several people away, including me…and as you suspected, we did date for a while, so the pain was deep for me. When he finally got off his high horse, and realized his mistakes, it was too late. We were all already gone."

From what Armin had seen of him, Bertolt was a decently nice guy, but very quiet. It was likely, based on Annie's story, that Bertolt was still consumed with guilt over his past mistakes.

"I'm sorry, Annie…um, Bertolt is here too, as Reiner's roommate," Armin told her, and Annie sighed in return.

"That's not surprising. It is what it is. And I did make myself forgive him, but I did it for my sake, not for his. I'm just so shocked that they're both here…why didn't I see them sooner?"

All she did was shrug, and with that, the conversation shifted gears.

"That other guy, Shane…I know you haven't run into any of those girls since we moved you out of Sansburg, but have you seen him lately?"

Armin groaned, remembering everything negative about Shane, the would-be big blonde hero who had turned out to be another pathetic homophobe, right when Armin needed help the most.

"Nope, not at all, and thank goodness' Annie," he said. "I never want to see him again, if I can help it."

"I don't blame you, he was way more of a bastard than even Bertolt in his stuck-up prime."

They said goodbye to each other soon after they finished talking, each of them on their way back to their dorm. Annie waved goodbye, and Armin waved back, his mind still stuck on Reiner Braun.

When he got back to his floor, Reiner was by the fountains as he typically was, filling up his water bottle. When he saw Armin approaching, he grinned and bolted up to him, beaming down at the tiny boy and eager to talk.

"Hey, Armin!" he said, holding a loosely capped water bottle. "Would you be up for a coffee outing tomorrow night, just you and I?"

Armin blinked rapidly, certain that he was being asked out on a date, and told him "Absolutely! The one downtown?"

"You got it!"

"Yeah, I'd love to! Should I text you tomorrow when you're thinking of leaving?"

"Sure, let's say around 6?"

"Sounds good to me!" Armin told him with a wide smile, aching for the next day to come.

Reiner winked down at him, told him "I'll see you tomorrow night then, bud," and walked back to his dorm, leaving Armin flabbergasted and beyond excited.

That night, when he went to bed, Armin thought about his father a bit, and how much both Shane and Reiner resembled him.

" _It's odd. Shane looks a lot like my dad, but while he's buff, his heart…really isn't. But Reiner's heart is huge! Just like my dad, only more talkative."_

He drifted off to sleep soon after finishing his inner monologue.

* * *

 _Armin panted hard as he fled into the darkness as far as he could, aching to escape his attacker. Only a few feet behind him, his assailant was pounding towards him, a snarl twisting his once-handsome features as his clenched fists tried to aim at Armin's fragile form._

 _While he tried to breathe, Armin screamed over his shoulder at the guy he once trusted._

" _All I wanted from you was for you to give a damn, for you to care! But you're even more of a monster than Kayla!"_

 _Shane didn't even react to Armin's words, and Armin suddenly felt himself run into what felt like the side of a building. All around him, he was enclosed by walls on all sides, with Shane blocking the only escape. He watched as the tall boy barreled towards him, the sensation of murderous intent permeating the atmosphere. Armin closed his eyes and turned away, hoping for the nightmare to end quickly._

 _Instead, he heard the thwacking sound of flesh on flesh, and opened his eyes to a shocking sight._

 _Shane's fist was trapped in the iron grip of William Arlert's massive hand, Armin's father glaring into the traitor's terrified face._

" _D-dad?!" Armin asked in shock as Shane struggled to escape the sudden deadlock._

" _Let go of me!" he shouted, squirming as he tried to shake off Will's hold._

 _Armin shuddered as he watched his father enter the fighting stance his mother had told him stories of, when criminals foolishly attempted to overwhelm the blonde titan. Will, while still grasping Shane's fist, squared his shoulders and feet, and drew back his other massive arm, preparing to launch a punch of his own._

 _Next to him, even Shane looked like a twig, his muscles hardly comparing to the bulk of years added to Will's body._

 _Shane screamed "Get away from me!" and tried in vain to free himself one last time, but it was all for naught; with one punch to the gut, Will landed a massive blow to the boy, and Armin gasped as he heard bones cracking._

 _There was a terrible pause before Shane's agonized form faded away, leaving the father and son alone. Will turned to face Armin, and bent down, wrapping his son up in his signature bear hug and holding him close, lifting him up and pressing him to his chest._

" _Never again!" Armin heard his father growl as the dream began to phase out. "I'll never let it happen ever again!"_

* * *

Armin woke up from the dream feeling super safe, the memory of his father's immense embrace still seeming like an impenetrable shield to a tiny boy like himself.

While Armin walked towards the campus building where his first class of the day was held, none other than Shane came stumbling his way out of the building door on his left, clutching his stomach and looking mortified. He looked exactly like he had in Armin's dream, wearing the exact same outfit. When the two boys glanced at each other, Armin could feel his own blue eyes glaring daggers into Shane's.

Shane snarled at him, but Armin, at least for the moment, was too angry to be afraid. It was after a moment's glance-over that he realized that Shane was clutching the same spot where his father had dealt the death blow in the nightmare. Armin made himself bolt past Shane and away from the wretch, trying hard to not boil over and start screaming in contempt at the guy who had turned out to be heartless. Thankfully, Shane did nothing to stop him, and Armin walked briskly towards his class.

" _It looks like the wound that Dad gave him somehow transferred to the waking world. That's amazing! And it's what that hypocrite deserved for apparently wanting to kill me."_

* * *

Shane glared over his shoulder as Armin walked out of sight, and continued his painful advance towards Sansburg Hall and Clair's room. The spot where that terrifying giant of a man had punched him in his stomach region was still flaring with pain, and the fact that his dream agony had turned into reality was beyond disturbing to him.

When he finally arrived, he noticed the paint on the old gray walls peeling all over the place, which hadn't happened at all the previous semester. Behind the peeling strips was what looked like old brown brick, and the dilapidated colors reminded him of abandoned hospitals. His floor, the 6th floor of the building, looked perfectly fine in comparison, and the unsettling disparity between the two floors was clear to him.

" _What the hell is going on? It literally looks like the 4_ _th_ _floor is rotting away!"_

As he walked down the hall, he felt sinister chills going up and down his spine, worsening as he approached the middle set of rooms. He walked up to room 415, which he vaguely recalled was that kid's room before he fled, according to Clair.

The chills turned into violent shudders, and Shane had the horrid sensation that there was somebody unseen breathing down his back. He glanced at the door, and when he saw what was written there, he felt instantly nauseous.

"No, no, please no!" he whimpered as he beheld the violent, jagged script and the blood-red letters.

" _YOU CAN WATCH HER BURN!"_


	3. Evening Coffee and Heart-to-Hearts

When 6 o'clock the following evening came, Armin heard a strong rapping at his door, and Jean looked up in surprise from his book.

"Who the heck?" he asked as Armin bounded to the door, excited and thrilled to spend closer time with Reiner at last.

He opened the door, and sure enough, there was Reiner, standing tall and strong in a handsome olive-green shirt and brown pants, beaming down at Armin and blushing once more. Jean beheld the two blonde boys, and a knowing smile crossed his face at the obvious romance before him.

"You ready, buddy?" Reiner asked him, and Armin couldn't help but giggle excitedly.

"Yes indeed! See you later, Jean!" he shouted over his shoulder as he bolted out of the room, taking Reiner's hand and tugging him down the hallway.

Good-natured laughter was heard behind them as Jean yelled "Have a great night, you two lovebirds!"

* * *

At the café downtown, Reiner and Armin sat across from each other at one of the black metal tables, each of them clutching massive cups of special brew coffee. Reiner studied Armin's face closely as the smaller boy nervously sipped away at his coffee, unsure of where to begin the conversation.

Reiner smiled and asked him "Is your semester going ok so far?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Armin answered, realizing that he was being unnecessarily vague. His shyness was interfering with his desire to chat openly with Reiner, and all he wanted was to talk at last about all of the crap that Sansburg Hall had put him through.

The river behind them glistened with reflecting sunlight, and in the distance, the sun was beginning to set over the skyline, the yellow hues gradually transforming into gorgeous shades of orange and red.

While Armin sat silently, nervously wondering what to say next, Reiner patiently told him "Buddy, it's ok if you'd rather not talk about it."

Armin muttered "Sorry, I-"

"No, don't be sorry. I get that we've only just started really talking to each other, and if it's still too soon to talk about what happened to you back there, I absolutely understand."

"I want to, I really do! I trust you and all, it's just…where the hell do I begin?"

Reiner gently laid his hand on top of Armin's, covering the smaller boy's hand completely and said to him "Did anybody…physically hurt you?"

In response, Armin flinched at the memory of Shane bearing down on him in his nightmare, bent on likely killing him, and Reiner looked horrified. Armin quickly shook his head and told him "No, no, that was only a nightmare."

"Thank God. Armin, buddy, who gave you that nightmare?"

"A horrible guy named Shane. I stupidly let myself be blinded by this crush I had on him, and I tried to pull the wool over my own eyes and deny how heartless he really is, despite his outward appearance. It's odd, Reiner, but you two actually look a lot alike."

The similarity was unsettling. While Shane had more of a heart-shaped face and blue eyes in comparison to Reiner's longer, strong-jawed face and amber eyes, they could've been twins otherwise.

To Armin's surprise, Reiner nodded, and said to him "I know, buddy. That's what she told me."

Reiner grimaced when he realized what he had said, and Armin tentatively asked him "Who?"

"…your mom, buddy."

At that remark, Armin shuddered and felt tears already building up in his eyes. Reiner got up from his chair, walked around the table and held Armin in his strong arms as the small boy shook with sorrow.

"W-what?" Armin asked Reiner meekly. "What do you mean, my mom told you?"

As he held him, Reiner told him "The night after I first saw you on my floor, I had the most vivid dream of being in your room, where you were sound asleep, and…your mom was sitting on your bed, too. She was watching over you, and she told me the bare essentials about what you went through, without getting too detailed. She mentioned this Shane bastard, and those girls too. And, she begged me…"

Reiner ruffled Armin's hair gently, and told him "She begged me, in her words, to protect her baby."

" _Mom?"_ Armin thought in bewilderment, not recalling dreaming of her that night. While he had dreamt of her appearing to his side the night of his breakdown in Sansburg Hall, along with seeing her, his father and grandma Judith in a subsequent dream the night he came to Wickson, he hadn't had any other vivid dreams of her since.

"If you're comfortable, if you're willing, Armin, please, tell me what happened to you."

Armin sighed, and after wiping away his tears, began recounting his story.

"I don't know exactly what you were told, but I was verbally, emotionally attacked numerous times on the 4th floor of Sansburg Hall. It started off as really stupid, petty things from Kayla, the ringleader of the girls there. But then, when I guess it was clear that I could brush that stuff off, Kayla and her friend Clair provoked almost half of the floor's girls into joining in with them, so that no matter what I did, or where I went, I had to deal with a screaming, vicious homophobic twat."

"And then, those notes started appearing everywhere. Notes in the laundry room, declaring that I was filled with disease, and to be treated as such. Spreading lies about who I am, to encourage others to hurt me. It culminated with the note Kayla pushed under my door, telling me to kill myself, because nobody on that floor would miss me."'

Reiner, too, started crying, weeping horrified tears as he whispered "What the fuck?!"

"If it wasn't for my spiritual bond with God, for Annie-"

"Annie Leonhardt?" Reiner interrupted abruptly, alarmed at the mention of her name.

"Yup, her! She was even more vicious in keeping me safe after I finally told her what I was being put through. If it wasn't for the people in my life who did their part to help me, comfort me, Reiner, it's likely that I would've given in to their hatred and…"

Reiner buried Armin in his embrace, and said "Oh buddy, I'm so, so sorry!"

Armin held him back gratefully, and allowed himself to be hugged for a long minute before pulling back. It had turned into night while the two of them had talked, the stars shining over the river behind them, and wind whispering softly through the budding trees.

When he saw what time it was, Reiner patted Armin on the back, and told him "Let's get going, buddy. It's late out, and I'm sure you've got a bunch of crap to do too."

"Don't I know it. But thank you, Reiner, for hearing me out, I feel a ton better."

Reiner beamed down at him and said "Good, I'm glad, buddy."

They walked back to the 3rd floor of Wickson, and Reiner left Armin outside room 327 after sweeping him up in his arms in one last embrace. Armin walked into his room, to find Jean smirking satisfactorily.

"Well, how did it go?" Jean asked him as Armin sat on his bed, still giddy.

"Wonderful! Reiner's an awesome guy."

"Good. I'm curious to see what happens next with you two," Jean told Armin with a sly wink, and Armin giggled again.

At that moment, Armin's phone vibrated, and when he glanced at it, he saw that he had a text message from his grandpa.

" _Hey, Armin! Hope you're doing ok. Just want to let you know that I've told your Uncle Joey about everything that's happened, and, well, besides being naturally enraged, he wants to serve as your lawyer and turn this into a legal case. Be sure to message him when you have a chance. Love you!"_

Armin looked at his phone in awe, recalling how his Uncle Joey, who was his godfather and his Dad's best friend from college, served as a terrifying lawyer who specialized in civil rights cases. He was in good hands, without a doubt.

After barely managing an hour of studying that night, Armin passed out on his bed, still feeling tranquil after having his heart-to-heart talk with Reiner.

* * *

 _Armin looked around at his surroundings, which looked like a massive theater. In front of him was a huge screen that was currently blank, taking up the entirety of the wall in front of him. There were no seats in the room, and he had no recollection of how he had arrived there._

" _Am I dreaming?" he asked out loud, as heavy footsteps fell behind him._

 _When he turned around, he saw his father walking towards him, wearing casual clothing, and his usual stoic expression. William Arlert came up to his son and pulled him into a bear hug, and Armin returned the embrace after a moment of shock._

 _The two pulled away after a few moments, and Armin asked his father "Dad? What's going on? What is this place?"_

 _Will looked around them and grimaced. "This is…Armin, son, I'm sorry."_

 _He looked down at his child, and bit his lip. Armin looked back up at him with a querying look._

" _Sorry for what? You did nothing wrong, Dad!"_

 _Will shook his head, and muttered "I've been hiding something important from you for a long time, something I should've told you before your Mom and I were killed in that car accident."_

 _Armin was even more confused by his father's answer._

"… _What is it?"_

 _Before Will could answer, the screen in front of them burst into life with a sudden myriad of colors swirling about on it. The two Arlerts watched the colors slowly coalesce into the image of an old high school that Armin couldn't recognize._

 _As the image began to move, looking much more like a movie, Armin heard his Dad whisper sheepishly "Looks like I can show you better than I can tell you, son."_


	4. The Lion and the Mouse Part 1

William Arlert strode down his high school's gray main hall, decked out in his football uniform, and anxious about the game that night. His team was going up against their school's main rival for the final game of his senior year, and as the strongest and tallest player on the team, he could feel the pressure from the entire school body.

His whole high school career up until his strenuous final game had been marked by his membership on the football team, which had pushed his body to the limits, and turned him into a towering blonde giant. He now stood well over 6 feet tall, and the powerful muscles in his body constantly looked like they could rip through his clothing at any moment.

Will's physical stature and looks had left many of the girls in his school swooning madly, and intimidated many of the guys. Just his presence in the hallways was enough to make even the most vicious of the bullies quiver in terror.

When he had first begun beefing up his freshman year after lifting heavy weights, his mother had taken him aside one evening and gave him a stern lecture.

"It's quite impressive, Will, that you're growing like you are. But I need you to understand what responsibility this immense strength of yours gives you."

"Responsibility?" he had asked her.

"Yes. It's like they've told you in Catechism. With whatever strength you're given, you must use it to protect those weaker than you. I know for a fact that there are plenty of bullies in your school who like to hurt other students."

Judith Arlert was dead on, because in Will's year, there was a cluster of malicious guys who loved to pick on a boy that so many of Will's classmates called a "queer boy", among other horrible taunts. The boy in question was hardly half of Will's weight, a scrawny boy who was suspected of liking boys instead of girls.

"That boy, and many others like him need you to protect them from the scum that prowl around those halls, looking for somebody to devour."

The Biblical parallel was not lost on Will, who knew his mother was deliberately comparing the bullies in his school to the devil.

"So whenever you can, whenever you see somebody being picked on, please step in and defend them. No matter what, you mustn't act neutral in times like that, because acting as an innocent bystander makes you equally guilty. And William…"

His mother leaned in with a sudden glare in her stark blue eyes, and he felt an involuntary shudder run through him.

"If I **ever** hear about you using your strength to hurt others like those bullies do, I'll punish you accordingly."

Ever since that stern warning, Will had made himself intervene whenever he had seen any of his smaller classmates get bullied, especially the gay boy who was picked on the most. His name was Benjamin, and the poor boy was aching like Will to graduate that year and leave behind the pain-filled halls forever.

That day, Will walked upon Benjamin being cornered against his locker by five of the worst bullies in the school, five guys who had rapidly turned to physically assaulting the tiny boy ever since Ben had openly affirmed his sexuality.

"Whatcha gonna do, you filthy faggot?!" Will heard the ringleader scream in Ben's face, as the boy squirmed in helpless fear.

Will growled low in his throat and pounded forward towards the scene, just as the ringleader pulled back a curled fist, no doubt about to punch Ben harshly.

Before any of the scumbags could do anymore harm, Will had landed a punch of his own to the prick's abdomen, eliciting an uncouth shriek of pain, and promoting all of them to flee. Will glared at them until they had run out of sight. He turned to Ben, and gave him a worried look.

"Are you…ok?" Will hesitantly asked, as Ben slowly stopped shuddering.

Ben shook his head and muttered "No, not at all. This has been getting worse ever since I came out last summer. What…"

Will frowned bitterly as he watched the smaller boy look up at him with eyes budding with tears.

"What did I do to deserve any of this?!"

With that, Ben tackled Will in a tight embrace, winding his thin arms around Will's massive torso, and resting his head on Will's powerful chest as he wept. After a moment of shock, Will held Ben back, and did his best to comfort him.

"You did nothing wrong, Ben. They're the ones who're wrong for hurting and hating you."

Ben continued to cry softly, and mumbled "They keep screaming at me that I'm filled with AIDs, that I'm going to Hell just for…for being gay. That's not true, is it?"

Will grimaced, recalling several of his priest's angry sermons about the apparent putrescence of the gay men spreading their "cancer" throughout the nation. News of gay men dying _en masse_ throughout the country was constantly recurring, and instead of offering compassionate words, his priest chose to capitalize on their misery for a very different reason.

Despite the priest's vitriolic message, Will couldn't bring himself to believe for an instant that the same God who loved him and his family would want to inflict such horridly cruel things upon anybody for loving somebody of the same sex.

With that resolution in mind, Will ruffled Ben's hair and soothingly whispered "Of course you won't. Don't believe their lies."

After a few more minutes of comforting Ben, the two finally walked out of the school for the day, with Will escorting the smaller boy to the parking lot to ensure that he wouldn't get jumped. After he watched Ben drive away into the distance, Will sat down on one of the nearby benches, and pondered deeply over what he had seen transpire those last four years.

" _I'm so sick of this. That kid's been attacked dozens of times ever since we started here as freshmen, but the school doesn't do anything but offer nonchalant, empty promises that they never fulfill. Those punks could beat Ben within an inch of his life, and I bet the school wouldn't give a damn. Miserable pieces of shit."_

The memory of Ben resting in his embrace was still stuck in Will's mind, and nothing he could do could remove the giddy sensations that came with it. For some reason, just having the tiny boy nestled so tightly against him was equally enticing as his first girlfriend from freshman year kissing him.

" _No way. Do I have…feelings for Ben? Back there…when he hugged me like that…I didn't want that hug to end. I wanted him to stay in my arms, so I could keep him safe…so I could…"_

He shook his head and made himself walk towards the football field, where the last practice before the game was soon to begin.

" _I know I'm not gay, I like girls, without a doubt. But that doesn't change the fact that…that was real, back there. What I felt back there, what I feel now…this goes beyond wanting to just protect him. I want something…more."_

Will's thoughts stayed on Ben throughout the game that night, and it was a miracle that he managed to help his team win.

At last, May came, and with it, graduation. The celebration was intensely emotional for many people, including Ben, who Will noticed in had relieved tears streaming down his face after their class left the stadium where the ceremony had taken place. After the crowds had dispersed, the two of them walked away towards a corner of the building where they could speak in private.

"We did it, Will. We're free!" Ben muttered, still sounding choked up.

Will nodded down at him with a warm smile and told him "You won't have to see those pricks ever again. Both of are going on to better places."

They hugged again, and once more, Will got that powerful rush of emotion coursing through his body. Their embrace seemed to last an eternity, and when Ben finally pulled back, Will couldn't deny the ache in his heart for more contact.

Ben wiped away at his eyes and asked Will "Where will you go now?"

Will stood tall and proud as he answered "I'll be joining the ROTC program in that college on the north side of state. I'll be studying Criminal Justice, and my goal is to make it into the police force after graduation."

The awe in Ben's eyes warmed Will to the highest degree.

"That's awesome, Will!"

"Thanks bud. At least this way, once I get there, I'll have even more power to protect those who need me."

Both of them chuckled lightheartedly as they recognized the crimson blush creeping up on their cheeks.

When the laughter subsided, Will asked him "But what about you? Where will you go after this?"

Ben softly said "I found out that that huge university, the one downtown, has a superb political science program. And I want it, Will. I want the knowledge and power to make laws that will protect me and everybody else from what I've been put through."

Will nodded solemnly.

" _Good, buddy. You, especially will know how to make those protections happen. Somebody's gotta do it, and it looks like this trash school never will."_

They parted ways after that moment, with Will off to his college up north, and Ben to his famed massive university way downtown. Years down the road, after the boy had gained further education in his path, Ben became a renowned member of the state government, and used his voice to ensure that the LGBTQ youth of future generations would have the legal rights needed to fight back against their oppressors.

* * *

William Arlert's first time wandering around his college's downtown area was marked by a severe absence of other students. He wasn't too surprised, given that he and the rest of the ROTC newbies had been told to arrive two weeks before the rest of their classmates would join them when term actually began.

The rigorous program of the ROTC at his campus had already come close to wiping even Will out, despite his prior experience as a football player. Although it had barely been two weeks, with one day before the rest of the student population arrived, Will was far wearier than any football practice had made him.

" _I hope Ben's doing ok. If I hear that any bastard's trying to lay a finger on him, I'll unleash the fires of hell."_

His feelings for the gentle boy had met their peace after he and Ben had accepted that they simply weren't meant to be. But nonetheless, Will and Ben would always care about each other.

In the meantime, Will was on edge after receiving a call from his parents about his grandmother having a severe stroke. Even though she was certainly old enough to be reaching her resting point, Will wasn't ready whatsoever to lose her, especially with far from her side in college.

His world was turned upside down when one of the ROTC's leading officers coincidentally found him sitting on a bench outside of the quaint shops in the downtown area. The man was wearing a grim expression as he walked up to Will, and Will's thoughts turned deeply dark.

Will stood up and saluted his officer with the proper greeting and said nervously "Good afternoon sir. Is everything ok?"

The man gruffly replied "Good afternoon, cadet. No, I'm very sorry to say that everything isn't ok. Please sit down, son."

The two sat down on the bench, and Will had to restrain his mouth before the tension in him provoked him into yelling for an answer.

His officer told him gently "William, I'm so sorry, but I got a call from your mother just an hour ago that your grandmother has passed."

If it wasn't for the devastating shock that filled Will at that moment, he would've broken down in front of his officer.

"W-what?" he asked weakly, unable to grasp the grim reality presented to him.

"It seems that the stroke she had recently ruined her. I'm sorry, William."

Will could barely speak, the horror was so intense. The officer was watching him worriedly, and Will could feel his shock turning into grief.

"Are you ok, son?" the officer asked him.

Will made himself nod, and replied "Y-yeah, I'm ok. I just need to process this, that's all."

His officer nodded, and said to him "Take it easy on yourself. I'll see you Monday morning."

"See you Monday morning, sir."

After the officer walked away, Will took deep breathes, doing all he could to not start weeping on the spot. The notion of his fellow cadets mocking him for his grief seeping through was unpleasant, and he didn't want to be judged for showing tears.

" _Why? Why did this have to happen when I was away at college? Why couldn't I be there to say goodbye to her? I feel like I've betrayed her almost…"_

His thoughts were momentarily distracted by the sight of a slender boy walking towards him from around the corner of the sidewalk. Will couldn't help but let his gaze be drawn to the stranger.

The boy's hair was a soft curly brown, and two piercing hazel eyes gazed about in a body toned in a beautiful chestnut shade. Whoever he was, the boy was at peace, a small smile on his soft, full lips as he looked around at his surroundings.

Will's gaze was matched by the boy's when the hazel eyes latched onto Will's weary blues. In a split second, the boy's peaceful smile changed into a grief-stricken look of horror, and Will shuddered as he saw his own pain recognized in the stranger's face.

" _N-no, please don't!"_ Will thought desperately, as his sorrow over his grandma's passing boiled over, and thick tears began to bead at the corners of his eyes.

The distance between them was quickly closed as the slender boy bolted up to Will, and without warning, wrapped the massive blonde up in a small embrace, their heads resting together. Will paused for a second in alarm, and shakily returned the hug as he finally began to sob, his tears spilling down his cheeks.

The boy held him as tightly as he could, his tiny body dwarfed in comparison. Small hands rubbed Will's back gently, and the hug didn't end until Will's sobbing slowly came to a halt.

Will could feel his cheeks burning crimson as the kind boy leaned back in his huge arms and offered him that beautiful smile again. The kid fumbled around in his pocket, and withdrew a crumpled napkin that he used to carefully wipe away the tears streaking down Will's face.

"It's gonna be ok. I promise," the boy told Will in a soft, honeyed voice.

With that smile still beaming on his face, the boy gently wiped Will's last remaining tear away, and Will's arms fell to his side. The boy nodded at him, and walked away, leaving Will shaken, blushing, and acutely aware that there was no way in Hell that he was straight.

* * *

That Monday, in his form-fitting uniform, Will walked into the cafeteria nearest his dorm sharp at 7:00 a.m., in need of a massive breakfast before the first training session of that week.

" _That boy…that kid…he made me feel even warmer than Ben ever has. Who was he? And was it really so obvious that I was heartbroken?"_

He walked up to the griddle section of the cafeteria, where pancakes, crepes and other breakfast specialties were cooked up daily. An elderly woman and her young attendant had their backs turned to him as they fussed over a tub of what looked like pancake mix.

"Oh, Joey, this stupid mix is too thin again!" the woman spat, shaking her head in frustration.

The boy next to her sighed and muttered back "I'm telling you, Carol, it seems like no matter how hard we try, we can never get this pancake mix right. Oh, and when do you think our first customer will come this morning?"

"Ah! Oh dear, we better make sure we're ready, it's already 7 and-"

The two employees turned around at once, and gasped as they realized that they had been unintentionally ignoring Will while worrying about their mix.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry, I had no idea!" Carol stuttered as her attendant gawked up at Will.

"No, it's ok, you didn't know," Will told her sheepishly as he took a look at the boy next to her.

Butterflies erupted in Will's stomach when he realized that he was looking at the same boy who had tenderly comforted him the day before.

Joey told him "You're the guy that looked so broken in downtown yesterday!"

Carol eyed the two students with confusion as Will mumbled "Y-yeah. Um, thanks for…you know, that hug and all. I really needed that."

"What happened to you? Are you ok?" Joey asked him.

Will bit his lip and said to Joey "I…I found out from my ROTC leader that my grandma died yesterday."

Carol and Joey both gasped in horror, and the small boy bolted around the corner and ran up to Will, tackling him in another embrace. His head barely met Will's chest, and his slender arms struggled to fully wrap around Will's massive torso. Will could feel himself blushing profusely again as he placed his hands on Joey's back and head, tussling the boy's soft brown hair and back.

"Hey, it's ok. And I really appreciate you comforting me," Will gently told him, as they held each other.

In the corner, Carol was giggling excitedly like a school girl and clapping her hands, a knowing smile stretching her wrinkled face at the scene before her.

Joey finally pulled back and said to Will "Ugh, I'm so sorry! I knew from that awful look on your face that it had to be something bad, but your grandma? That's heartbreaking!"

Will nodded and said to him "It is. Unfortunately, I think it was her time to go. Her health had been declining weeks before I came here."

The two boys discussed their upcoming class schedules, and were shocked to discover that they shared a Tuesday and Thursday freshmen math class together. Their happiness was interrupted by a flood of students entering the cafeteria, prompting Carol to beckon to Joey desperately.

"Crap, I gotta go!" Joey told Will, and Will smiled down at him, patting him on the back and nodding.

"It's ok. I'll see you in math tomorrow then."

Will asked him hurriedly "And it's Joey, right?"

"Yeah! And what's your name?"

"Will."

Joey gave him his trademark angelic smile and told him "I'll see you tomorrow, Will."

Will was still on cloud 9 after receiving another sweet embrace from the boy named Joey. On top of that, he was also unnerved at the surefire realization that he had a keen interest in a certain type of guy that both Ben and Joey embodied.

" _I guess I really do like being a big, bad 'protector' for smaller guys like them. That's awfully romantic."_

Joey's smile didn't leave Will's mind that whole day, and he nearly got yelled at by his superiors when he let himself get distracted during training.

The next day, in one of the oldest brick buildings on campus that had begun to wither in various shades of brown and gray, Will walked into his math classroom to find Joey waiting eagerly.

When the two saw each other, Joey shouted "Will!" and tackled the bigger guy in another embrace, and the rest of their classmates watched in shock as Will and Joey held each other intimately.

A handful of their classmates could be heard whispering malicious things about them under their breath, while several of the girls, like Carol the day before, were overexcited at the sight of two boys hugging each other so closely.

"That's so gay, it's too adorable!" one of them said a little too loudly, and the nastier classmates in the room glared at her simultaneously.

And so, the lion and the mouse fell hopelessly in love with each other that fall semester, despite the hatred surrounding them.


	5. The Lion and the Mouse Part 2

**Trigger Warning: Homophobic Violence**

One day in one of the small cafes dotting the campus, in the middle of a chilly November, Joey and Will sat down together over massive cups of coffee. The end of the semester was wearing them all down, along with other typical college stress factors. Adding to their anxiety was the ever-growing malicious gossip of their math classmates over their open affection for each other.

While the two boys hadn't come close to kissing yet, their routine warm embrace was provoking the vilest of their classmates into snarling the word "filthy faggots" at them much more loudly than that first session at the start of the semester.

"I'm so damn sick and tired of people not minding their own business!" Will snarled, gripping his coffee cup too tight and making it spurt a bit of hot joe over the side, stinging his hand and making him grunt in pain.

Joey quickly dabbed at the spot with a spare napkin, and told him "So am I, Will. I mean, goodness' sake, we aren't even making out in public like that one prick does with his girl ever freaking morning!"

Bill, the most virulent member of the homophobic gang in their class, was known for obnoxiously snogging his girlfriend Clarissa in front of the whole class every morning before the professor walked in. It was a nasty sight that often earned protests from the rest of the class, but to no avail.

The two of them sighed impatiently and tried to drink their coffee, as the two boys placed affectionate hands on each other's back, refusing to let the judgmental stares of the surrounding people stop them from showing love.

Joey asked Will absentmindedly "How is your ROTC program coming along? And is your Criminal Justice program treating you right?"

Will finished his coffee with a gulp and told him "That ROTC program is nothing to kid about. I feel like every day, I wake up sore all over from how rigorous it is. And my major is almost as bad. The psychology class I'm taking, over criminal motives and all…Joey, what the absolute fuck is wrong with people?"

Will's question earned him a cocked eyebrow from Joey, who asked him "What do you mean, Will?"

"What drives people to spontaneously attack people they know nothing about? I'm studying cases where people of color get beaten to death by violent white men over nothing!"

Joey grimaced, and muttered "You…have you studied the case of Emmett Till?"

The two of them shuddered in unison at the image in their minds, of that young boy's bloody, broken corpse left behind after two white men kidnapped and murdered him for merely talking to a white woman.

Will, choked up in angry tears, told him "Joey, he…he was only 14!"

"I know, Will." Joey rubbed his back as he sadly told him "Me, my family and my friends know all too well about the bullshit people of color have to deal with."

It was the total refusal for remorse from one of the killers, a white man named Roy Bryant, that drove the horror home for Will even more. Bryant was haunted by his crime until the day he died, with people reminding him of his murderous hatred daily. Bryant's infamous final words regarding what he had done were "Emmett Till is dead. I don't know why he just can't stay dead."

While both of the killers were dead as of the mid 90's, the agony of what they had done was still used as an example of ultimate criminal cruelty.

"When I see Bill, those other guys, and everybody else on this pathetic campus that call you and me 'fags' for simply walking together…Joey, I see them in the same evil light as Emmett's killers."

"I don't blame you, Will" Joey told him softly as he drained his own cup. "It's a similar hatred, and the same sin, too."

Will looked at his companion and shyly asked him "Would you call yourself a Christian, Joey?"

Joey glanced at him, and told him "Let's put it this way: I trust God through and through, but I've lost my patience with modern religion, along with my folks back home after they helped me come out to my church community. My parents were shaken, but refused to abandon me when I told them I'm gay. My church, however…"

Will grimaced in sympathy as Joey went on.

"Ugh. Keep in mind, this church is in the middle of a relatively large city, with a real diverse population of church goers. But that diversity didn't stop the gossip and accusations from flying at me and my family once the body found out about my sexuality. My parents and I gave the whole place the middle finger the instant I was called 'a disease-filled abomination in the eyes of God' and left for good."

Will seized Joey in a tight side embrace, and Joey leaned in gratefully as Will shook with anger.

"That's what me and my parents once heard the priest at our church call gay men when I was younger. Gay men were dying at a rapid rate, and instead of offering words of comfort, he chose to imply that God was killing them off for being gay!"

Joey sneered, and hissed **"It isn't the hand of God that kills gay men. It's betrayal by your loved ones, and the inhuman hatred of the rest of the world!"**

A few weeks later, just before finals week came crashing down on the entire campus, Will invited Joey over to his single dorm room for a series of study sessions over the confusing concepts of their freshmen math course.

The first night, Will greeted Joey at the door in a tight a-shirt and shorts, his outfit highlighting his bulk that had the ROTC program had further toned. Joey could only blush at the sight.

"C-come on in" Will told him shyly, the two of them blushing together.

While the two sat close together on Will's bed, trying hard to understand the bizarre concepts in their textbook, Will asked him about his other classes.

"You aren't getting swamped like me, are you?"

Joey chuckled and told him "Thankfully not. All I've got on my plate are basic core classes."

Will eyed him in confusion, and asked him "Wait, you haven't taken any classes for your major yet?"

"No, Will. Like I've told you way back then, I'm only an exploratory major. I'm still not sure what I want to do yet, and I'd rather not have to change my mind and waste time down the road."

"Oh…gotcha. That's right, you did tell me that."

Although they had spent their semester together hugging each other intimately no matter where they were, Will and Joey had yet to exchange their first kiss, out of the cold knowledge that doing so was bound to provoke an extreme amount of hate that they weren't ready for.

And Will, despite being the crush of nearly every girl at his high school along with a few boys, had no idea how to properly flirt with a crush of his own. He was incredibly shy in that regard, and was too worried that he would be overly intense towards Joey if he attempted to voice his feelings.

With that in mind, Will decided that his best route to get across to Joey was nonverbal, physical expression only. When Joey came knocking at his door for their second study night, Will greeted him completely shirtless, fully exposing his powerful body to the smaller boy.

Will bit his lip nervously as he watched Joey gaze up and down at his hardened muscles, shock and ecstasy gleaming in his hazel eyes.

"Uh…let's get studying," Will mumbled awkwardly, unable to find the courage to cease beating around the bush and admit his feelings.

"Oh, I'll be studying **hard** tonight, that's for sure," Joey said back, and Will felt his already crimson cheeks darken even further.

They sat side by side on Will's bed again, attempting to focus on the textbook instead of the romantic elephant in the room. After a long hour of concentrated studying done, Joey sighed and placed a small, warm hand on Will's bare back, eliciting a gasp from the blonde giant and a smirk on Joey's lips.

"Well, Will, I think it's time for us to call it a night…" he said pseudo-shyly, rising from the bed and gathering his things with his spare hand as Will continued to blush.

"Y-yeah…" Will tried to say to him, the sensation of Joey's hand sending hot tremors throughout his body, and making him wish that the two of them would throw caution to the wind and have a delicious romp in the sack, as his mother once coined the act cleverly.

Joey slowly took his hand off Will's back, and made his way to the door, pausing to turn around. Will gulped nervously and waited for Joey to say what was coming.

"You know, even as an exploratory major, math seems useless to me…" Joey said to him, and Will made himself nod to break himself out of his desire-filled haze.

"R-right, I me too-"

"But in the end Will, remember that no matter what, the 'y=mx+b' crap will always be useful for one reason."

Will blinked in confusion and hesitantly asked him "…what reason, Joey?"

Joey gave him a cunning grin and told him as he seized the door handle, "To measure the slope of that ass, of course."

When he left the room, Joey left Will even more flustered than before, and with a tight, awkward sensation in his loins.

When the third and final study session of the semester's penultimate week came, Will, feeling like he had no other option for the route he had taken, chose to greet Joey at his door with nothing on but a tight pair of blue plaid boxers, and extremely red cheeks. All Joey could do was try his best to avoid looking down at Will's boxers, where it was becoming too obvious what Will was thinking about.

"So, uh, Will…" Joey began to say, edging up to his best friend and winking at him, "are you trying to make a statement of some sort?"

Will stumbled with his words, and Joey, laughing good-naturedly, seized his hand, closed the door behind them and dragged him over to his bed, where he plopped down. After a he took a deep breath and calmed down a bit, Will sat down next to him. Neither of them bothered to touch their textbooks, as it was clear that no studying would happen that night.

"I, uh…Joey, I…" Will tried to say, glancing away embarrassedly and desperate to get the words out of his mouth at last, "I…"

He flinched when Joey gently squeezed his hands, the small chestnut palms dwarfed by Will's, and heard the boy say to him "I like you too, Will. I'm sorry that I put you into this awkward spot for so long by silently demanding you to be the one to initiate. That was unfair of me."

Will let out a big sigh of relief, and the two beamed at each other, the awkwardness melting away into peaceful pleasure. Joey scooted towards him, and Will wrapped him up in his famous bear hug, holding home close to his warm torso, where Joey's head rested happily on his chest muscles.

For several minutes, they simply held each other, Will's hands gently massaging Joey's small back. Joey looked up at him after a while, and asked him "What do you want to do next, Will? How far are you interested in going?"

The seriousness of the question wasn't lost on Will, and he hesitantly asked Joey "Are you talking about sex?"

Joey gave him a sincere nod, and Will nervously bit his lip again, hoping to dodge the topic altogether.

When he saw the reaction, Joey quickly told him "Will, if you don't want to, if you're not comfortable, heck, if you're not ready, that's totally fine! I absolutely respect that. I just want to have honest, open communication about what we are, you and I."

"I gotcha. It's true, Joey, I…I'm nowhere near ready for that. Part of it's my religious upbringing, another part is…I don't have a clue how guys do it together, and I'm terrified that I'll hurt you. I mean, I'm being honest here, not vain, I'm huge, y'know, and…uh, well-endowed, too, and you're so small, I-"

"I understand, Will," Joey told him. "And I appreciate you saying that. I won't deny that I don't know for sure how it happens too…and, I think it would be best if we keep our virginities safe until the time is right for us."

Will nodded gratefully, and asked him "On that note, do you want to-?"

With that, Joey giggled, whispered seductively "Oh, you better believe it, handsome!" and placed his soft lips on Will's, and Will was quick to return the favor.

That night, instead of studying for freshmen math, Will and Joey chose to begin truly dating, at least in secret, until Will was ready to tell his parents the truth. They fell asleep in Will's bed, Will laying on his back and the smaller boy nestled comfortably in the massive, warm embrace.

* * *

Will and Joey spent their spring semester holding hands in public, but not willing to go beyond that, at least until they could find a more secluded spot to share deeper intimacy. As they predicted, several daily passersby threw them dirty looks and snarled hideous things under their breath, even a few girls.

The spring days rushed by that semester, until finals loomed sinisterly around the corner. For their final free night before the stress of their exams came crashing down upon them, Will and Joey went downtown to a casual dining spot beloved by the student body, where they ate happily and paid no heed to the anger simmering in the homophobic patrons surrounding them.

Will gladly paid for them both that night, and when their meal was finished, they walked out of the restaurant, on cloud nine and wishing the evening would never end. Just as they were about to start walking back to campus, Will patted his pocket down, and snapped to attention when he didn't feel his wallet.

"Shit!" he snarled, and Joey grimaced knowingly. "I think I left it back in the restaurant!"

Joey nodded, patted his hand, and told him "Go ahead, I'll be waiting right here."

To his relief, the instant he walked back inside, their waitress jogged up to him with his wallet in hand. Will thanked her profusely, and checked to make sure that the contents of the wallet were undisturbed.

Just as he finished pocketing his wallet, a horrible scream of pain suddenly split the night, and along with the entire crowd within the restaurant, Will froze in alarm. The sound of fists on flesh began to resound down the street, and with a monstrous sense of dread weighing down on him, Will threw the doors to the restaurant open and turned to his right, where he beheld his fears brought to life.

Joey was being held down by two burly, nasty looking guys as Bill, the ringleader of the homophobes from freshmen math the previous semester, rained heavy blows on his fragile body, eliciting screams of pain. For a moment, Will paused as reality set in, and then, his vision turned a violent red as his own scream of bloodthirsty rage ripped forth from his lungs, and he charged forward.

Joey's attackers failed to reach quickly enough, and Will dealt devastating punches straight to the heads of the guys restraining him, freeing him and letting him crumple to the ground, shaking and starting to weep. The two guys bolted down the street and far away from the scene as the restaurant patrons began to spill out onto the street, watching the scene before them unfold with a mixture of shock and sadistic pleasure.

Bill snarled up at Will, and withdrew what looked like a pocket knife from within his leather jacket. Before the homophobe could flick it open, Will, still enraptured in his fury, seized Bill's wrist in an iron grip, preventing Bill from attacking him.

"H-hey, let me go!" Bill protested in terror as Will slowly squeezed harder and harder, until, with a bloodcurdling shriek from the would-be vicious prat, the bones in Bill's wrists snapped with a disturbing cracking sound.

As Bill continued to scream in pain, Will threw him to the sidewalk, where Bill's head hit the ground hard, throwing him into a daze. Will bellowed in rage and began to pummel Bill with his spare fist as the other hand refused to release its death-like hold on Bill's wrist.

Will heard the people behind him screaming in terror at his malice, and Will refused to stop until he heard Joey call out to him weakly "W-will…"

At once, Will ceased his assault on Bill, and ran to Joey's side, where he tenderly held his lover as the smaller boy shook and sobbed. Police sirens could be heard blaring in the distance, and Will knew in the back of his mind that he was doomed to be arrested for the havoc he had unleashed on Bill.

" _That piece of shit must've followed us here!"_

When the police cruisers arrived, Will voluntarily surrendered himself to the officers, who were shocked to recognize a cadet of the ROTC program before them. Will sighed in defeat, and refused to deny that he had come close to potentially killing Bill for what he had done to Joey.

"I'll gladly go with you, without struggling. But for goodness' sake, get Joey to a trauma center asap, he just got violently assaulted!"

The senior police officer, a stern looking woman, firmly told him "If you trust us, son, then you know we'll keep him safe. Now get moving."

Joey, still shaken but able to slowly move, softly squeezed Will's hand as Will was led away, and whispered to him "I love you, Will."

"I love you too, Joey," he whispered back, wishing desperately that their night out had ended differently.

* * *

After the officers captured the two fleeing assailants and matched their testimonies with Will's explanation of why he attacked Bill, they released him with a strong word of warning that if he pulled the violence again, he could face a truly severe punishment.

That Monday, Will was brought in before a panel of three ROTC officers, comprised of the man who had delivered the news of his grandma's death, an indifferent looking man who seemed like he was about to fall asleep, and an officer who Will despised for being verbally homophobic towards the effeminate guys in his cadet team.

"William Arlert, it has been brought to our attention that you were involved in a violent fight two nights ago, and furthermore, there are allegations circulating that you are in an open, homosexual relationship with the boy you were out with. Is this true?" asked Will's favorite officer firmly.

Will had a deadpan look on his face, not interested in the bureaucratic bullshit that was unfolding before him, and asked the officer "Which one, sir?"

"Both!" the officer snapped back.

"Fine. Yeah, me and Joey are technically dating…and yeah, I came close to killing that bastard for what he tried to do to Joey. You got a problem with any of that?"

The homophobic officer, who had been sneering at Will the entire time, snarled "Yeah, brat, we've got a problem with you being a faggot in the ROTC!"

Before the other two officers could silence him, without missing a beat, a cold smirk fell on Will's lips as he said to the man "It takes a faggot to know a faggot, doesn't it, Lieutenant Phil?"

Silence fell on the room as the other two officers gawked at Will, and Lieutenant Phil screamed in rage "What the fuck did you just say?!"

"Oh please, don't play deaf with me. The whole ROTC program knows that the real reason you pick on the 'girly' boys in our squad is because you want to deny the hots you have for them whenever you see them squat and run. You're a joke, a hypocrite, and a waste of my time."

The middle officer, no longer groggy, broke out into obnoxious guffawing as he yelled "Damn, Phil, Cadet Arlert just ran you into the ground!"

"You shut it!" Lieutenant Phil roared back, and he bolted from the conference room, slamming the door behind him.

The other officer groaned, and begged Will "Son, please don't make this any harder on me than this already is. You **know** what the rules are! No open homosexuals are allowed in the military, and-"

"Sir, with all due respect, my boyfriend could've been killed last night, and I'm really starting to wonder if you're more worried over my supposed violation of this bullshit rule than saving his life." Will said coldly, aware and uncaring that he was on a poor streak of talking back to superior officers.

The middle officer interrupted them both, and said to Will "Cadet Arlert, I won't deny that the rule is problematic at best. For your sake, along with your…well, your boyfriend's, I want you to know that what we're truly worried about is how far you went beating that idiot up."

Will nodded slowly, and told them "Like I told the police last night, the way I was, I was close to smashing Bill's skull open on the sidewalk, and I wouldn't have felt the least bit guilty. But I will understand if that disqualifies me from serving with you in the future."

The two officers gave each other a long look, and Will's favorite sighed deeply.

"Son, we'll keep you here, and in terms of the official paperwork and such, I'll deem it as self-defense for the sake of others. But please restrain yourself next time, ok?"

Will smiled in gratitude and assured him "Absolutely sir."

* * *

When Will and Joey met up together at the end of finals' week, Joey seemed emotionally improved, despite the bruises still dotting his fragile body. Will was beyond relieved to see him after what had happened Saturday night.

"Joey, it's so good to see you! Are you…um, doing ok?" he hesitantly asked, knowing that Joey wouldn't be ok for a long time."

Joey told him meekly "I mean, I'm still horrified…not to mention, livid that those bastards apparently tracked us to downtown just so they could attack me. What the fuck?"

It wasn't lost on Will that it was likely that Bill and his goons had solely targeted Joey between the two of them because of Will's immense stature, and Joey's smaller form.

Before Will could go on, Joey said to him "Will, I'm…I'm sorry, but, I won't be returning to this campus ever again, and…I think it would be better if we end our romance."

Will was stunned, unable to take in what he had just heard. Joey noticed the horror on his face, grimaced, and began to explain.

"Before I say anything else, I want you to know two things: One, I don't blame you for what happened Saturday night. It wasn't your fault, and I'll always appreciate how quickly you came to my side. Two, I'll always love and cherish you, for everything you've done for me, for what we've been through together."

"That being said, I no longer feel safe here, for obvious reasons. It's not that I don't trust you to protect me, it's just that I'm not interested in having to always look over my shoulder every night I cross campus. And…I don't want you to get in trouble over me, ever again."

The instant Joey said those words, Will felt tears budding at the corners of his eyes.

"Joey," he whispered, heartbroken, "you've never been a burden to me! I don't regret for an instant what we've been through together, and…I…"

He wept bitter tears, and told him "I'll always love you, too."

Joey wrapped his small arms around Will's torso, and Will held him back tenderly. For what seemed like hours, they stood there, wrapped up in each other's embrace, knowing that it would be the last time they would hug for a long time. When they finally let each other go, Will could feel his tears still streaming down his face as he gazed down at Joey, who was smiling up at him patiently.

"You've got my contact information, Will, and I've got yours, so don't worry, this isn't goodbye forever. Also…"

His posture became stern, and he told Will "I've decided. I want to be a lawyer, Will. I want to be the one who fights for others like me, who ensures that monsters like Bill get properly punished for their hate. Saturday night changed me, and opened my eyes to the cruelty in people. I want to do my part to fight that, to the teeth."

Will nodded, finding that he wasn't really surprised at Joey's choice, and said to him "I'm so proud of you, buddy. I know you'll go far. And…I'm going to miss you so much."

"I'll miss you too, Will," Joey replied, his smile returning. "I promise I'll call you sometime this summer and update you on where I'm going. As for you…what's next?"

It dawned on Will that he still hadn't told his parents about Joey, or about his realization that he liked both girls and guys. He grimaced, and a knowing, sad look fell on Joey's face.

" **I've…got to tell my parents about who I am. It's time."**


	6. The Lion and the Mouse Part 3

Will finally broke his long-avoided silence with his parents one summer night at the start of June, late into the evening while they were gathered around the kitchen of their home. He had left out the true reason why he had so violently beaten up Bill that Saturday night, and it had been eating him up ever since.

"Mom, Dad…um…about that night I told you about…there's something else I need you to know," he told them shakily, and at once, John and Judith Arlert snapped to attention at the serious tone in their son's voice.

"What is it, honey?" Judith warily asked him, while John simply looked at him silently.

"Joey…he wasn't just my best friend. We, uh…I guess you could say, we dated."

For a good minute, neither of his parents said anything, as Will's words sank in. The atmosphere in their house turned incredibly tense.

"What are you saying, Will?" John asked, sounding unintentionally angry.

"What…are you saying you're a…a…" his mother tried to ask him, shaken and confused.

"No!" he told them. "I still like girls, but for some reason, I fell in love with…with Joey, a guy. That's why I attacked Bill and those two other guys so violently. I did it because they attacked the person I love in my presence."

Nobody said anything for a long time, and at last, John spoke up.

"Son, there's no way I'm going to up and disown you for telling me you loved a guy. But you know I wasn't expecting anything like **this** in our talk tonight. And honestly-"

He shrugged at Judith, and told Will "After hearing how protective you were of Ben, that really obviously gay boy you were close with in high school, I'm not surprised, now that I think about it. I just wish I had been told sooner."

The two guys looked expectantly at Judith, and for a long, agonizing minute, all she did was glance at her son in utter confusion.

At last, she finally said to him "I mean…Will…what are you, then?"

The question completely took him aback, and he asked her "Mom, what do you mean?"

"I mean, how can you like both girls **and** guys? That makes no sense to me!"

John groaned, and Will gritted his teeth, having to fight the urge to snap off at his mother of all people.

"Mom, for goodness' sake, can't you take this seriously, please?"

"I am!" she snapped at him, her irritation bursting through. "Don't you dare accuse me otherwise, Will! It's just…"

To their alarm, tears budded up in the corners of her eyes, and she whispered heartbreakingly to him "I don't want this world to treat you as promiscuous just because you can love everybody!"

"Oh, Mom…" Will said softly, and he held her gently, as John wrapped an arm around his wife's sobbing shoulders.

As she sobbed, she explained to her son "While you were away at school, John and I…we've heard about the scores of gay youth who've died left and right from that horrid disease. Our priest, Will…I think we need to find a different church, because for the last month or so, all he does is rant about how their 'promiscuity' made them worthy of the cruel death they suffered. That man equates a man loving another man with so many wrong things…"

Will grimaced, knowing that this was what Joey had experienced when he had come out to his own parents years earlier.

At the end of that night, Will's parents promised him that they would never abandon him for his love interests, and expressed a sincere interest in one day meeting Joey and talking with him.

* * *

When his sophomore year of college began, just a week into classes, Will met a petite girl with waving wheat-colored hair who would one day become his wife: a girl named Eleanor, or, as her friends called her, "Ellie".

Ellie reminded Will painfully of everything that Joey was to him, a small, loving human who he felt an intense desire to protect forever. Over the course of their sophomore year, Will and Ellie bonded deeply, and just as Will and Joey had the previous year, the two fell hopelessly in love.

That summer, Will brought Ellie home with him to meet his parents, who received her with warmth and adoration. Ellie seemed to fit right in at the Arlert household, and Judith especially took a strong liking to her.

One night, while Ellie was with him at his house, Will took her to the front porch and sat with her there, nervous but aching to divulge his secret at last. Ellie looked up at him in confusion as Will fiddled with his hands, his habit of nervously biting his lip recurring once more.

"Will, what is it?" she asked him, as her boyfriend continued to fret.

Will made himself look at her, and he told her gently "Ellie, I don't want to keep any secrets from you. You deserve better than that, and if we end up together like my mom's predicting, that would be beyond cruel of me. So, um, I need you to know something about me."

She nodded patiently, and Will finally told her "I…last year, I was in a relationship with a guy named Joey."

To his surprise, all Ellie did was nod along, not showing any sign of surprise or, as Will had feared, disgust.

"That's nothing, Will!" she told him, squeezing his hand assuredly. "Geez, I thought you were going to tell me you once killed somebody. No, I couldn't care less if you've dated a guy before. Will, we're almost at the new millennium, and if people are **still** getting hung up on guys and gals getting in same-gendered relationships, then society needs to stop bitching and fix its priorities!"

A glimmer of joy was now in her brown eyes, and she asked him earnestly "Can I meet Joey, Will? I'm woefully ignorant of what gay men are put through, and I want to know what I can do to help."

With that, William Arlert knew that he had definitely found his future partner.

Joey called him on the house phone a few days later to catch up with Will about everything. While they talked, Will sheepishly told him about Ellie, and his belief that he would end up marrying her.

"Joey, I, um…I really think she and I could end up getting hitched!" he told Joey, unsure of how Joey would react.

To his relief, Joey gave him the soft, pleasant laugh that had enamored Will and told him "I'm so happy for you and her, Will. And I assure you, I'm not mad. You do recall me releasing you at the end of freshman year, right? It's ok, big guy. I want you to be happiest with whomever you're meant to be with. It looks like Ellie is that person, and I've accepted for a while now that you and I weren't meant to be wedded, that's all."

A few weeks later, Joey came to the Arlert house for the first time, where Will's parents and Ellie awaited him earnestly. When Joey arrived, looking as gorgeous as ever, Judith Arlert was the first person to greet him, running up to him and embracing him tightly, to Will's surprise and joy.

" _She probably still feels a bit guilty about freaking out back then. But damn, that's motherly love right there!"_

John and Ellie both also greeted him warmly, John shaking his hand with a grin, and Ellie, with her brown eyes gleaming in excitement, hugging him close, and it warmed Will's heart to see his past and future lovers united in friendship.

Joey was quickly integrated into the lives of the Arlerts and Ellie too, and when Will finally graduated alongside Ellie from college two years later, Joey was truly thrilled to hear from his best friend that he planned to propose the following summer.

"Good, Will!" he told him as they sat in the Arlert house together late in May. "I'm really happy for you!"

Will beamed down at him, and then softly, seriously asked him "Joey, I know this is sudden and all but, will you be my best man at the wedding, when it finally happens?"

The shock that Joey initially showed transformed into pure joy, as tears budded up in his hazel eyes.

"Of course, William Arlert. Of course."

And so, on a perfect midsummer's eve late in July, at the park near his home, Will took Ellie for a moonlit stroll, and proposed to her with a ring that Joey himself helped select. To everybody's joy, Ellie said yes.

* * *

The months leading up to the wedding zoomed by, and when the day finally came, Ellie pulled the two guys aside in the morning, away to a quiet corner of the church where the marriage ceremony would take place.

"Joey, you've been vital for Will, and now, you've become a major part of my life, too," she told them, as they looked at her in confusion, not knowing why she had dragged them away so suddenly.

"I want you two to have an opportunity to talk before the ceremony begins. I don't resent either of you for once being together, and I want to ensure that you especially understand that, Joey."

Joey beamed at her and said "Oh Ellie, you've proven to me over and over again these last few years just how huge your heart is. I have no doubt that you've accepted me, and I greatly appreciate this."

"Thank you, Ellie," Will said to her softly, and with a grin, she left them alone to talk.

For a quiet moment, the two of them simply stood tougher, looking around them at the rapidly increasing crowd coming into the church. Judith Arlert was at the door serving as the greeter, while John handed out the pamphlets to the incomers.

Will placed a large hand on Joey's shoulder, and told him "It's been a long four years."

"It has," Joey said, placing a small hand on Will's massive back. "It really has, Will. And I'm so, so happy for you two."

Will looked down at him, and asked him "Are you going to be ok?"

"What do you mean, Will?"

"I mean…" Will gulped nervously. "I feel bad, that you…you still haven't found the right guy, have you?"

Joey sighed deeply and told him "No, I haven't. But Will, please, I'm begging you, don't blame yourself for my loneliness. The time we had together will be something I'll always cherish, I want you to know that. Not to mention…"

He grinned up at Joey, and whispered "I can't wait to see you as a father. You're going to be an amazing dad, and Ellie, with her kindness, patience and knowledge of so many things, will be an awesome mother."

Those words made tears well up in Will's eyes. It was time, then, for Will to ask from Joey one of the biggest favors ever.

"On that note, Joey, will you be my child's godfather?"

Without skipping a beat, Joey beamed and said "Absolutely, Will."

Only a matter of hours later, Will and Ellie were officially married, with his wife wearing a long, stunning white dress, and himself in a handsome midnight blue tuxedo that threatened to burst at the seams from the size of his bulk. Thunderous applause greeted them as they walked down the aisle hand in hand, and the two of them could hear Joey cheering them on loudly from the back.

* * *

A handful of years later, when he had just turned 28 and Ellie was pregnant with their first child, Will began his career as a police officer, serving in the local division. His first assignment was to help comfort a homeless girl who had been picked up by his department after being recently kicked out and disowned by her parents. That day, it was midsummer, with the searing July heat bearing down on them all.

Will walked into the meeting room, looking almost regal in his form-fitting uniform, and found her crumpled and exhausted sitting in one of the chairs. She was a mixed girl of 18 years, and his superior had told him that her name was Anastasia.

Anastasia looked up at him, and he could see fresh tears streaming down her face. He gently beckoned to the empty seat next to her, and she nodded in approval. Will sat down next to her, and silently wondered what could've driven her parents to abruptly kick her out so quickly.

He extended his arms out to her in an offer, and Anastasia gladly fell into the massive embrace, shaking and sobbing as he held her. After a while, she pulled back, and told him the horrid truth.

"I…came out to my parents today as a lesbian, and they…they called me a…"

She couldn't speak any further, as a new round of sobs racked her body. Will shuddered, remembering his own fears about coming out to his parents, and held Anastasia a little bit closer.

"I'm so, so sorry," he whispered to her, and he felt his own tears starting to cloud his vision as Anastasia managed to continue.

"My own mom screamed in my face that I'm an abomination in the eyes of God, and a stain on the reputation of our oh so **prestigious** family," Anastasia spat with vicious contempt. "Without further ado, they shoved me out the door, slammed it behind me and locked me out completely, leaving me to wander around, not knowing what to do."

As they wept together, Will snarled to her "You better believe that I won't let your parents get away with this. I can't guarantee that I can make them take you back, but I **will** ensure that you're taken care of, one way or another."

He reached into his chest pocket, and withdrew one of the spare St. Michael silver pendants he carried with him at all times while on the job. Anastasia gazed at it in wonder, and Will explained it to her.

"I'm not sure what your denomination is, but I was raised Catholic, and we learned a lot about the different saints and who they lead as patrons. St. Michael the Archangel, the angel you see here on this pendant, is the patron saint of police officers, and this department doesn't take that lightly."

On the pendant was the classical image of Michael the Archangel, fully armored and wielding a powerful broadsword, battling the devil and laying waste to the serpent. Anastasia was utterly amazed, and Will placed the pendant in one of her hands.

"Take it, please. And no matter what happens from here on out, don't forget that God will protect you."

Later that day, Will and one of his fellow officers had Anastasia guide them in a police cruiser to her house, a normal looking suburban home on the western edge of the district. Will and his two companions walked up to the door, and, with his fury over Anastasia's mistreatment surging within him, he proceeded to pound on the front door.

"Police, open up!" he shouted, satisfied at how loud his booming voice echoed.

After a tense moment, the door finally opened, to reveal a middle-aged black man and white woman starting at them apprehensively. Behind him, Anastasia froze up, and then, her pretty face contorted into a terrible sneer that was instantly mirrored by her parents.

"What the hell are you doing, bringing her back here?" the mother snapped at Will.

The father echoed his wife, saying "You have no right to be bringing this godless abomination here to our front step!"

Will glared at them and withdrew from his pocket the hastily procured warrant they had been given to take Anastasia's belongings with them back to the police building. His superior had declared that, for the time being, Anastasia would be given free residence with their department until further notice, and that it was their duty to guide and protect her as such.

At the sight of the warrant, her parents gritted their teeth in frustration, and Will smirked triumphantly.

"We have the authority to enter your home and take your daughter's belongings out. While you may have the legal right to kick her out now that she's 18, we won't tolerate you leaving her with nothing. Now step aside!"

They begrudgingly complied, and Will lead his two companions inside. Anastasia glared her parents down, and Will couldn't help but shudder at the palpable malice in the room.

He turned to her, and asked her "Will you please lead him to your room and help him move your things out? I'm going to stay down here to ensure that-"

Will scowled at her parents, and muttered "-that nothing interrupts us."

Anastasia nodded, and led the other office up the stairs and out of sight. The instant her daughter disappeared upstairs, the mother snapped to him "Get that monstrosity out of my sight quickly before I-"

"Before you **what** , ma'am?" Will snapped in return, silencing her with a loud, angry shout. "Don't waste my time! It's all I can do to not go on an insulting spree with you two, after hearing how you betrayed her when she trusted you with her secret!"

The father snarled to him " **She** betrayed us and the integrity of our family when she-"

"Your family's honor, sir, is nothing but a joke, if all it takes is one lesbian to ruin it. And as for **you** , ma'am…"

Will glared down at her, and felt cold satisfaction in watching the hate-filled worm squirm uncomfortably in his iron gaze.

"How dare you call yourself a mother? How dare you call your own flesh and blood child an abomination just for not liking boys? How can you have the **audacity** to act like loving Christians when you treat your daughter with such cruelty and hate? Thank God On High that we're rescuing Anastasia from your slimy clutches. It's clear to me that you would've had no qualms abusing her further than you already have."

His harsh words reduced the woman to tears, and left her husband stunned. Anastasia and the officer finally came back down with luggage cases in tow, and Anastasia gave Will a firm nod that signified she was ready to go.

The three of them were about to walk out of the house for what would be Anastasia's last time, until she turned around and told her parents coldly "May God forgive you for how awful you've been to me, and teach me to do the same, because it's going to be a long time before I learn to let go of the pain in my heart."

From then on, Anastasia was adopted by Will's police department, and after receiving the proper education and training, learned to become an officer just like him. Eventually, Will deemed her worthy of his ultimate trust, and revealed his bisexuality to her the night before Armin was set to be born.

Naturally, Anastasia wasn't surprised, as she told him "No straight man could've looked at me with the immense compassion you had for me that day, and understood in his heart my pain and fear."

* * *

The next morning, at 6:30 a.m., Armin Arlert was brought into the world, in the presence of his parents, grandparents, and Joey too, whom the whole Arlert family had begged to come. Ellie held her baby boy tenderly in her arms and wept for joy as the rest of them cheered.

Ellie beamed up at Will and told him "You should hold him too."

Will gladly took the tiny baby in his arms, and cradled him, looking down at his son and feeling pride swell up within him, along with his innate urge to protect.

In the back of his mind, as the result of what had to be a form of parental intuition, William Arlert realized that his son was likely gay, though none of them would know for certain until several years passed. He recalled the suffering that Ben, Joey and so many other gay men had been put through at the hands of others, and felt a twinge of fury at the thought that somebody would try to do the same to his baby boy.

" _I'll never let it happen! I won't fail Armin, I won't fail my son!"_

* * *

A month later, while the three of them took Armin with them to the park, Will, Ellie and Joey discussed Armin's future, and it was there that Will hesitantly shared his prophetic feelings with the other two.

"I don't know exactly how I can tell, but I really do think that Armin's going to grow up to be gay, just as I'm bisexual," he told them.

Joey looked at him curiously and mused "Interesting. That sounds borderline like some sort of precognition, Will. Maybe something deeply spiritual too."

"No kidding, honey," Ellie said, holding Armin to her chest as she talked. "That was only a passing notion to me that morning, but it sounds like for you, it was much stronger."

Will nodded in agreement. Then, his anxiety about the past and future bubbled forth, and he couldn't stop himself from voicing his nervous question.

"What do we do if somebody tries to hurt him for being gay?"

Joey and Ellie exchanged a long, meaningful glance, and she spoke up first.

"Then we fight, Will. You know that."

"I won't let him suffer what I did, Will," Joey said, a fire brewing in his eyes. "Nobody deserves that, especially not your son."

"Not to mention," Ellie whispered sinisterly, and both of the guys shuddered at the malice in her tone, "I'll gladly unleash the fires of Hell on anybody who tries it, and I'll enjoy watching them burn."

* * *

 _The scene on the screen faded away, leaving Armin stunned with the many revelations he had been given. Will looked down at him, and Armin saw that tears were streaming down his father's face._

" _I…I could've helped you understand your sexuality, son," he whispered through his tears. "I could've guided you, protected you from the monsters who hurt you! But I let myself get killed, and all I could do was watch you weep in that room after everything came to a head!"_

 _Armin gawked up at him, and desperately told his father "No, Dad! It wasn't your fault none of it is! I'm not mad at you for not telling me sooner, heck I might not have really understood you if you had told me when I was still a kid. But please, don't blame yourself for what happened to me! I'm safe now, and that's what matters, right?"_

 _Will wiped away his tears, and said softly "Right. But I'm just stunned that a sweet kid like you could earn the hatred of so many people like Joey and Ben."_

" _Me too, Dad. Me too."_

 _They held each other one last time as the dream gradually fizzled out, and Armin told his father gently "I love you, Dad."_

" _I love you too, son, forever and always."_


	7. Stalkers

Armin woke up from the dream of his father to a pitch-black room, with no light to offer visual assistance. The moon outside was practically invisible, a new moon that was nothing more than a shadow.

To his right, Jean was knocked out asleep on his bed, snoring absentmindedly. Armin rose up into a sitting position on his bed, groggy and shaken from all that he had been shown by the peculiar dream screen.

"I'll kill you, you fucking faggot!"

He froze in horror as he saw Shane, his father's would-be doppelganger, emerge from the dark corner of his bedroom, a look of utter hatred contorting his handsome face. Armin began hyperventilating, and shot a terrified glance at his roommate, who was apparently unaware of Armin's stalker.

Shane sneered down at him and told him "Nobody will hear you scream as I make you suffer, brat! Nobody can help you, not your roommate, and especially not your beloved Reiner!"

All Armin could do was watch as Shane crept towards him with a horrifically sadistic grin. Shudders ran up and down his spine, and Armin knew that there was nowhere to run.

" _How the hell did he get in here without Jean knowing?!"_

Then, to his shock, Armin saw the woman robed in black manifest just behind his approaching enemy, looking just as stern as her former appearances in his childhood bedroom. The woman placed a solitary finger on her lips, silently telling Armin to remain silent, and then covered her eyes with her hand.

Armin knew exactly what she was telling him to do, and watched quietly as her moonlight blade was withdrawn, the room's darkness finally being dispelled by its glow. He shut his eyes tight, and willed for Shane to be struck down by her ominous hand.

Shane stopped in his tracks, and snarled "Who- **YOU BITCH**!"

Without warning, Shane's angry voice warped into a guttural shriek of fury as the same rage-fueled otherworldly language that Armin had heard that day in room 415 roared in response. The two voices clashed violently as the woman, whom Armin realized was both his childhood night defender and also the source of the female voice from back then, fought off her opponent.

After a few agonizingly long moments, with one final echoing scream, the adversary seemed to disappear from the room. Armin waited tensely, clutching his bedsheets and not knowing what had happened.

" **Open your eyes, child."**

He obeyed, and when he looked, only the dark woman stood before him, with no trace of Shane to be seen. The woman looked down at him somberly as she gripped her gleaming blade.

Armin felt a few small tears slip down his cheeks, and he quickly wiped them away, shame surging in him at how helpless he had felt before Shane. The woman gently shook her head, and took a few steps forward so that she was right next to his bed.

" **No, child,"** she told him, placing a pale hand on his shoulder. **"Do not blame yourself for feeling fear in the face of such evil. It is only human."**

"H-how did Shane get in here?" Armin meekly asked. "Why didn't anybody see him come in?"

Her face twisted into a look of utter contempt, and she told him **"That was not Shane, child. That was something far more twisted than that vile boy."**

The response made no sense to Armin. Noticing his confusion, the woman knelt down next to him so that they were at eye level, and went on.

" **That fiend took advantage of your inherent fears, and sought to paralyze you as such. That is why I came, to fend off this monster, just as I fought off those abominations that haunted you years ago."**

Armin remembered vividly the disturbing shadow entities who would enter from the dark hallway outside his room at night, and the woman appearing to slash them away with her blade made of moonlight.

" _But if that wasn't Shane, then who…or what…"_

He felt his exhaustion returning quickly, and the woman assuredly told him **"I will not allow any other fiends to assault you tonight, child. Sleep, and sleep peacefully."**

With that, Armin fell back onto his bed, and almost instantly went back to sleep, dreamless but at peace.

* * *

When he woke up, Jean was already up and getting ready for the day, giving no indication that he was aware of the events from that night. He gave Armin a tired smile, and Armin smiled back, still confused as to why Jean apparently slept through the entire bizarre skirmish. Armin took his room key with him and left the room, headed towards the restroom.

In front of the water fountain was Bertolt, Reiner's meek roommate who seemed constantly overshadowed by nervousness. Bertolt saw Armin walking towards him, and greeted him mildly.

"H-hey, Armin!" he said, as he stood up to his full height, towering over Armin at what must've been 6'5", even taller than Reiner. "How are you?"

"I'm ok," Armin replied, not wanting to disturb Bertolt with a description of what he had seen. "What about you?"

The quiet giant bit his lip, looked away, and told him "I…had another awful dream about…about what I did to Annie, my ex-girlfriend from high school…I…I feel like shit."

Armin looked up at him in pity, and said to him "If you're feeling this guilty about whatever happened between you two, dude, you should go apologize to her. She goes to this college to, you know."

At that, Bert's brown eyes widened, and Armin saw a gleam of hope. Bertolt ran up to Armin and placed large, tanned hands on his frail shoulders.

"R-really? Where can I find her?" Bertolt asked him, almost pleading with Armin.

"She lives in the dorms south of here, on the opposite side of campus," Armin told him. "You can also find her at the café downtown once and a while. I would go there first and try your luck."

"Thank you, little buddy," Bert told him sincerely, and with a quick ruffle of Armin's hair, he bolted down the hall and out of sight, the stairwell door clanging shut behind him.

" _Poor guy. He really does want to make everything up to her."_

* * *

A quiet week passed from the dream of William Arlert's past, and Armin bonded even further with Reiner, who took his trauma very seriously. Reiner had refused to mention anything that Armin had revealed in their talk to anybody, not even Bert, until Armin had given him permission.

When Reiner told Connie and Sasha, the comically cute duo was enraged. In the evening, while Reiner and Armin sat inside the giant's room, with Bertolt out enjoying a pleasant walk around campus, the two came pounding at their door. Reiner and Armin exchanged a confused glance, and when Reiner opened the door, he found Connie and Sasha carrying a large laptop with them, looking cunning.

"What the hell, Connie?" Reiner asked, as the couple sauntered into his bedroom.

Connie smirked up at him and told him "It's time that I put my skills to good use, Reiner, and there's no better way to do that then avenge Armin!"

Armin hesitantly asked him "Connie, what are you planning to do?"

Sasha piped up and said "Connie knows how to hack into other computers remotely! He's a computer whiz!"

"Don't say that so loudly, Sasha, you'll get us all in trouble!" Reiner hissed, and Armin could see a drop of nervous sweat trickling down his face.

Reiner turned to him, and muttered "So, you see, ever since we've been friends in high school, Connie taught himself through internet research and very illegal software how to hack into other computers using his special programming. It was the only way he could get back at the people who picked on him. He wreaked havoc by revealing people's embarrassing browser history to the rest of the school, humiliating them like they had done to him."

Sasha sniggered and added "That's exactly what we're going to do to that bastard Shane! I know his type, Armin!"

The whole room paused, even Connie, and her boyfriend asked her "What do you mean?"

She gave him an annoyed glance, and told him "Hello, McFly, Shane's a hidden homo!"

" _What the hell?"_ Armin thought in bewilderment. _"Did she seriously just use the term 'hidden homo'?"_

Sasha turned to Armin and said "I've watched my fair share of gay porn to pass the time, and a recurring trope is the hidden homo, the oh-so-macho guy who tries to act all manly to hide his massive boner for the other guy. And based on what you've told me, Armin, Shane's the same way."

Armin grimaced, realizing that Sasha had hit the nail right on the head. While he had suspected that Shane was a closeted hypocrite, he hadn't been able to tell for certain. But Sasha's depiction of guys like Shane made it all too clear that Shane also wasn't straight.

Reiner grumbled and muttered "Damn. I mean, I'm bisexual, I don't like to hide it from people. Heck, I don't hesitate to tell people when they ask me. I get why other guys don't like to open up about their sexuality, but going around lashing out at other more vulnerable guys like Armin to hide yourself…that's sick!"

Connie nodded and told them "That's why I've got no second thoughts about hacking into his computer!"

He turned to Armin and asked him "So dude, does Shane live in Sansburg Hall?"

"I think so," Armin replied, recalling finding Shane on his floor with Clair, and knowing that the chances were high.

"Good. Let's begin then."

Connie sat on Reiner's bed, and started clacking away, with various dark green lights flashing on his screen. The three of them watched the screen expectantly, not knowing what they were supposed to be looking for.

On Connie's screen, a map of the area popped up, and when he typed in the coordinates to what must've been Sansburg, the map zoomed in, and brought up hundreds of red dots. Connie swore and fiddled with his hands nervously as the rest of the group looked on in confusion.

"What are you looking for, Connie?" Armin asked as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing.

"I need to find Shane's laptop IP address, so that focus my hacking program on it and break in. But damn, there's too many of them listed here, and I don't have a clue where to start!"

Then, without warning, Connie's face went sheet-white, and his eyes widened alarmingly. They all watched tensely, not sure if he was having a heart attack. After several moments, Connie slowly typed a few numbers into his program, and the map zoomed in on one lone red dot.

"No way…" Reiner muttered, as they all realized that Connie had somehow figured out which IP address belonged to Shane.

A query box popped up on Connie's screen, and after another strange moment, Connie typed something long into the box. With that, a new screen popped up, showing a desktop-style screen with a background of a guy's ripped 6-pack abs.

Armin rolled his eyes in disgust, and Sasha tutted, saying "Like I said, a repressed homo."

Connie continued to clack away, and what must've been Shane's browser history popped up on his screen. While none of the guys in the room could recognize the odd site names listed, Sasha gawked and blushed at what she saw.

"Those are the kinkiest gay porn hubs on the net!" she told them, and it would've been funny if not for the seriousness of the situation.

He went a little bit further, and brought up Shane's online messaging. Armin gritted his teeth when he recognized Clair's name at the top of the messaging list. Connie took note of Armin's reaction and grimaced.

"Buddy, is Clair his girlfriend?" he asked.

"I'm positive," Armin said, and Reiner wrapped a long, bulky arm around his shoulders, pulling him close and providing steady reassurance.

Connie clicked on Clair's name, and opened Shane's history of messages with her. After reading through the messages, they all watched as the blood drained from his face, and Connie's mouth fell open in horror at what he saw.

"What is it?!" Reiner asked him, and Armin felt an ominous foreboding shiver go down his spine.

"L-look at this!" Connie muttered, flipping the screen around so that they could read.

Armin shuddered at what he read, a set of messages between Shane and Clair that was dated two days prior.

 **Clair:** "That stupid faggot won't be around for much longer!"

 **Shane:** "So you found where he works?"

 **Clair:** "That bookstore on the corner of campus. Figures that the freak is a loser bookworm too."

 **Shane:** "Right. What do you want me to do?"

 **Clair:** "Simple. I'll keep looking where I can and find when he goes to and leaves work. I'll go there soon and spook him, rile him up and leave him on edge, to make your job easier."

 **Shane:** "Gotcha. So you'll have me find him and crush him, right?"

 **Clair:** "That's the plan. I'm tired of waiting for Kayla to take charge, that moron's letting herself get too freaked out by those stupid nightmares she's been having. You and I will be the ones to claim the honor and smear the queer!"

 **Shane:** "Good. I can't wait to get my hands on him!"

 **Clair:** "I know babe. Me too. We'll do to him what Kayla did to Mina Carolina two years ago!"

All four of them couldn't speak for a good minute, as the reality of what they had read settled in. Armin wanted to scream, but no sound came out, his throat was so dry.

"What the fuck is this?!" Reiner finally yelled, breaking the silence. "Holy shit, this bastard's plotting to stalk and kill Armin!"

The image of Shane, looming over him in the darkness of his dorm room and openly expressing his sadistic desires was still fresh in Armin's mind. Despite the dark woman assuring him that what he had seen wasn't Shane, and that the thing in his form was simply trying to paralyze him with fear, Armin couldn't help but shudder violently at knowing for sure that people were out to claim his life.

" _They…they really do want to kill me! What…what the hell did I do to provoke them like this?!"_

Sasha, looking at the screen agape and disturbed, asked them "Wait, who's Mina Carolina?"

Both Connie and Reiner froze in alarm at the recognition of that name, and Armin told her "Mina…Annie told me about her a few days ago. Mina was her best friend, an open lesbian, and…she was murdered in her town's park one summer night after she graduated from high school."

Connie groaned, and nodded. "I…yeah, I remember her. I remember that I did…nothing. I thought that what that poor thing was going through would end by itself, but…obviously it didn't."

"Those monsters!" Reiner snarled. "This happened after me, Bert and Annie graduated. And now that I think about it, the name 'Clair' rings a bell. This bitch was set to become our school's cheerleading captain after my class graduated. And she was one of the worst homophobes I've ever laid eyes on. She encouraged so many people to go after Mina, especially her cheerleading friends."

"And Kayla…I remember a bit about her, too. Clair's best friend. There were times when I couldn't tell who was more evil, like they were competing for the #1 spot for most hateful girl. Those two put Mina Carolina through Hell and back, and apparently, they're behind her death!"

Connie asked him sheepishly "But dude, I thought that Mina committed suicide! I mean, that's what the school and the town said officially…"

Reiner shook his head firmly, and told Connie "Connie, we both know that the higher ups didn't give a shit about a lesbian dying, no matter what the reason was."

"That's true."

He looked at Armin, and said "Dude, I'm so sorry."

Armin told them "I don't know, honestly, why I'm so shocked. They all made it clear to me in Sansburg Hall that they thought I was beyond worthless. But this is sick!"

"I know it is. And I'm not letting them get away with this," Connie told him. "I'm going to take screenshots of all of this, and send them to the RHD of Sansburg. That way, the higher ups will have the proof they need to take action."

"Thank you, Connie," Armin muttered gratefully.

" _And with RHD Levi taking action, they're all screwed."_

Reiner patted his friend on the back and said "Thank you, Connie. Heck, you may have just saved Armin's life with what you've done here tonight."

Connie bit his lip and said back "Don't thank me yet, Reiner. I won't feel ok until these morons get brought to justice. I'm gonna head to bed now. Goodnight, guys."

"Goodnight," Reiner and Armin said in tandem as Connie left with Sasha following behind him.

* * *

Out in the hall, before he could walk away, Sasha seized Connie's arm and made him look at her.

"Connie, tell me the truth!" she begged him. "How did you know what Shane's IP address and password were?"

Connie shuddered in response, and Sasha drew back in alarm. He hadn't been willing to tell the entire group at once what he had experienced, because everything had been beyond freaky.

"I, well…" he started to explain. "I heard this voice of sort tell me exactly what to do. It, or rather, **she** gave me his exact IP address, and his password, 'stud678'. I didn't see it coming, obviously, and I'm still shaken."

Sasha gawked at him, and muttered "That really is freaky. Well…okay. I'm just glad that we found this out."

"Me too. I need to get to bed, Sasha. I'll see you in the morning."

"See ya."

She walked away, leaving Connie to walk back to his room. He put his hand on the door, and shuddered again as he recalled the woman's disembodied, vengeful voice whispering her sinister command to him.

" _ **Let JUSTICE be done."**_

* * *

" _THEIR BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDS"_

Kayla sat with Clair in the lounge on the 4th floor of Sansburg Hall, still horrified by what she had read on the door to room 415, those glowing red words seemingly oozing crimson. She could still smell the acrid stench of blood from beyond the door, and the overwhelming nausea that she had been feeling since she had seen the words had been steadily building up to the point that she felt seriously ill.

The fact that she wasn't alone in her apparent sickness brought no comfort to her. Everybody else in their group, besides the despondent Elise, had been feeling increasingly under the weather the last few days, and they could no longer dress it up as allergies or a mass cold. Their constant shivering, the sense that somebody was watching them at all times, and the sickness that was so imbedded that it felt spiritual couldn't be ignored any longer.

On top of that, her nightmare from only two days prior was still burning a fresh image in her mind.

In it, a deranged Armin had cornered her outside her room, and in the horror of the moment, Kayla was once again unable to realize that she was only dreaming, not truly facing the reality that Armin had apparently come back to hunt her down like he had promised in the other nightmare she had seen.

" _So, you think that I have AIDS, eh?"_ he had coldly asked her with a horrific sneer. _"You think that my blood is just_ _ **riddled**_ _with disease?"_

To her alarm, Armin withdrew from his pocket the same knife that had been used to strike down Mina Carolina two years ago, slashed his palm open, and made his horrid red flow spurt all over her.

" _Then share my disease, you c—t!"_ Armin had screamed maniacally. _"Share my pain!"_

Kayla had woken up screaming at the top of her lungs " **Stop it**!", and still feeling that Armin could suddenly appear outside her door, ready to assault her once more.

" _Blood, blood everywhere!"_ she thought, continuing to shudder violently.

Next to her, Clair rolled her eyes and told her "Stop fidgeting over that stupid dream already, you're embarrassing yourself. You know that Armin isn't really gonna come back here at all."

"Shut it!" Kayla snapped back. "You're feeling just as ill as the rest of us!"

"So?" Clair asked snidely. "You can argue that it's something 'supernatural', but it's mid-March, and you've all been blowing this out of proportion."

"Yeah? Well maybe if you'd take a look at that door, you'd understand why I'm so freaked out!"

"Oh, please. I have no reason to glance at that door, and I'm sure that both you and Shane are hallucinating. Your paranoia is going to drive you insane at this point."

Kayla gritted her teeth, having to fight the rising urge to scream at her best friend.

Clair sneered at her and said "Not to mention, it's a shame that you aren't taking the reins on hunting down Armin anymore like you told me you would. You've been so caught up in your dreams and illusions that I've had to pick up your slack. Your mother would be so disappointed in you."

" _My mother would first beat me, then disown me!"_ Kayla thought.

"Look, if all you're going to do is get hung up on this crap, then just let me and Shane handle the rest. I'm heading to Armin's bookstore to freak him out like you originally intended. After that, I'll help Shane plot when and where to sneak up on the fag and wipe him from the face of the earth!"

"Don't do it!" Kayla begged her, remembering again her first nightmare. "You have no idea what could happen to you if you-"

"Just shut the fuck up, Kayla," Clair interrupted. "All that's going to happen is Armin will be terrified so much that he'll lose his cool, making Shane's job much easier. Watch me do what you've been daydreaming about these last few weeks, while you sit on your scared ass."

"Fine!" Kayla snapped, and she got up from her chair abruptly. "But don't you dare blame me if something like my nightmare happens to you as a result!"

As she stormed away, she heard Clair yell back "I don't count on it."


	8. Let Her Burn

**Trigger Warning: Violence and Disturbing Imagery**

In his bookstore, Armin sat tensely at the front desk, the disturbing revelation from the previous night weighing down on him.

" _As if telling me that I should just commit suicide wasn't enough…"_ he thought with a scowl. _"So they really are sadistic enough to want to kill me."_

The instant he had walked into work that morning, Armin had told his manager everything he now knew, and she had effectively lost her temper on the spot.

"Somebody wants to kill you?!" she had screamed in fury. "Absolutely not, I won't let that happen, especially not on my territory!"

They had talked in the early hours of the morning, before any customers had arrived. It was now 9:00 a.m., and Armin waited at his desk, with a subtle sense of knowing that Clair was bound to come bother him very soon.

Sure enough, she was the first customer to enter the store, throwing the doors open arrogantly and sauntering in. The instant she spotted Armin at the front desk, she leered at him, and marched up to him.

Before she could say anything, Armin spat at her "So you did come after all. How the fuck did you find out what my work schedule is?"

She froze in her tracks, and snapped back "What the hell do you mean, 'you did come after all'? How could you know that I was hunting you?"

" **Hunting me**?! That's what you call this? Like I'm some sort of prey for you to stalk?"

Clair sneered and told him "That's exactly what this is, faggot! Since Kayla is too terrified over the stupid nightmares she's apparently been having of you, I decided to take the reins and carry out our original plan."

" _Nightmares?"_

Armin scoffed at her and said "Right. So let me get this 'straight' with you. You intend to first freak me out here, then have your boy-toy Shane finish me off later, just like what you sick freaks did to Mina Carolina after you graduated from that Christian high school?"

At that, Clair was no longer sneering. Her alarm now outweighed her malice, and Armin felt utterly satisfied at wiping the grin off her slimy face.

"H-how the fuck do you know about that?!"

"As if I'd tell you anything, Clair!" he snapped back. "All you need to know is that RHD Levi now knows everything you've been plotting to do to me, and the way things are looking now, you could face expulsion. It's what a horrific bitch like you deserves!"

"Expulsion? Don't make me laugh!" she jeered. "Even if Levi does somehow know about that, neither of you have any idea what exactly we're going to do to you, you filthy faggot! When Shane gets his hands on you-"

" **GET HER, BOYS!"**

Without warning, two burly security officers suddenly stampeded towards Clair and seized her in iron-like grips, and Armin's manager emerged from the office behind him, glowering and emitting an aura of malice far worse than Clair's.

"What the fuck is this?!" Clair screamed in fury as she wriggled hopelessly in the guards' grasps.

His manager yelled "You miserable pig! You **dare** have the audacity to plot this boy's death, and expect nothing to happen to you? Your arrogance blinded you, and now, you'll be hauled off to the Office of Student Conduct!"

Clair laughed harshly at her, and said "Oh please, you old hag, you have no proof of what I've said here. What do you expect to happen when you can't prove anything?"

Without responding, Armin watched his manager jab a finger at the security camera in the corner of the shop, which was focused right on Clair. The girl saw it, and Armin sniggered as he watched her freeze up in horror.

"You bitch!" she screamed as the guards dragged her out the doors.

His manager watched her go with a sneer of utmost satisfaction. She turned to Armin and let out a high cackle that made Armin smile.

"The stupid prat never saw it coming, did she?" she asked. "It's like I told you, Armin, I won't allow any of these pigs to lay a finger on you in my sight."

"And I appreciate it," he told her. "Is it ok if I let my friends know what just happened?"

"Of course, take all the time you need."

She walked away, and Armin quickly texted Annie, Eren and Mikasa at once.

" _Guys, I've got too much to tell you. Last night, one of my floor mates remotely hacked into Shane's computer, and we found out that he and his girlfriend Clair have been plotting to stalk me and kill me. She actually came here just a while ago to try and rile me up like she was plotting with Shane in their online conversation. I'm ok now, but it's still disturbing, realizing how far these bastards will go."_

Armin only had to wait a handful of seconds before they all started replying.

 **Eren:** _"I'LL SLAUGHTER THEM BEFORE THEY EVEN TRY IT!"_

 **Mikasa:** _"That's horrific. I'm glad you're ok, but you need to tell somebody."_

" _Oh, we've already told RHD Levi, and my manager just sent this girl kicking and screaming to the Office of Student Conduct, where she's going to be interrogated. It's likely that they could file some sort of police report too, given that they were premeditating my would-be murder."_

 **Mikasa:** _"Good. Keep me updated."_

Just a moment later, Annie replied.

 **Annie:** _"If I find them, I don't know how I'll manage to not kill them myself at this point. I'm glad that your ex-RHD knows now, but I wonder…was it Connie Springer who hacked for you?"_

" _Woah, how did you know?"_

 **Annie:** _"Trust me, everything he did to his own bullies at our high school went down as infamous history. Let's just say he turned out to be like a technical Robin Hood, if you will. How interesting that he came to this university too. What are the odds of that?"_

" _Right!"_

He looked up from his phone and sighed in exhaustion. The last 24 hours had been nothing but hectic.

The memory of the third member of the evil trio, Elise, came back to him, and Armin thought silently _"What ever happened to her? And really though, what is she? Is she truly homophobic like those two, or was she simply playing the part for some odd reason?"_

* * *

Later that night, after being put through the wringer by both the Office of Student Conduct and RHD Levi, who had joined the Office meeting to interrogate her on her plot to kill Armin Arlert, Clair was utterly humiliated. The whole thing had been a hot mess, with Levi swearing that he would push for her to be expelled.

" _This is all that faggot's fault!"_ she thought as she sat with Kayla again in the lounge of the 4th floor. _"None of this would be happening if he hadn't somehow found out about my talk with Shane!"_

To her left, Kayla was looking at her with a mixture of triumph and fear. Clair was still seething after being humiliated to the 10th degree by her meeting with the university officials, and Kayla was reveling in her warning coming true.

"I did tell you, you kn-" Kayla started to say before Clair snapped.

" **Shut it**! I don't want to hear it! You have no idea what I had to go through earlier today, and the last thing I need is for you to rub it all in my face!"

Kayla laughed coldly and said to her "Well, like I said last night, don't say that I didn't warn you. My plan to get this all done is much more precise than your stupid would-be duo with Shane, and you should've waited before trying to make this happen."

"Whatever, Kayla. I don't want your outside help in this."

"Get over it. The outside help you despise so much will be somebody that Armin will never see coming."

Clair bolted to her feet and stormed away towards her dorm, fuming and enraged that everything she had planned had been suddenly thrown in her face.

She saw Elise standing outside her own dorm, holding a cup of a minty herbal tea, and wearing a bitter frown as she saw Clair approaching. Clair came to a halt next to Elise and snarled at her.

"What do you want?" Elise's constant moping over Armin had been getting to her for a while now, making her anger that much worse.

Elise snapped back "When will you two give it a rest? Armin's gone from this floor, why can't that be enough for you?!"

"We won't stop until we've wiped his existence from the earth, Elise, and I'm sick of you whining about this! It's been painfully obvious to me ever since Kayla made the mistake of letting you join our friend group in high school that your heart's never been in this! If you don't stop boohooing about poor wittle Armin, I'll see to it that you get kicked out of our group like I've wanted for so long!"

She tried to walk away, before she heard Elise hiss to her "Mina didn't really kill herself, did she?"

Clair froze up in alarm, and then made herself flee the scene, walking briskly away and slamming her bedroom door behind her.

" _There's no way she could know what we did to that dyke! Kayla and I did everything in our power to prevent that whiny bitch from finding out about her ex-bestie's death, so how would she know about that now?"_

As she got dressed for bed, a loud knocking was heard at her door, and the instant she finished putting her pajamas on, she yanked it open, ready to shout at whoever was bothering her.

To her pleasure, instead of one of the girls come to bother her, Shane stood before her, in a tight white a-shirt that showed off his gorgeously toned muscles. He walked in, and she closed the door behind them with a smile.

"Oh, babe, am I glad to see you!" she said, wrapping her slim arms around his waist and pulling him close. "It's been an awful day, and it's all Armin's fault!"

Shane glowered and told her "Kayla told me all about it when I came here looking for you this afternoon. How the fuck did that fag find out about our plan?"

"I don't know, and right now, I don't care. All I want to do is ride this stress out, if you know what I mean."

He grinned, and lustfully whispered to her "You got it, babe."

As he lifted her off her feet and laid down on her bed, covering her completely and moving to undress them both, Clair thought with a surge of primal hatred rising within her _"I'll find you and make you suffer for the humiliation you've put me through, Armin Arlert!"_

* * *

 _In her dream, Clair had Armin cornered against the outside walls of Sansburg Hall, surrounded by Kayla and the other girls as the blonde fag pressed himself against the dilapidated exterior in fear._

" _You're mine, you fucking faggot!" she screamed, and as she advanced towards him, prepared to strike, she noticed Armin's fear suddenly change into cold contempt._

" _Don't be an idiot, Clair," he snapped. "Don't do it, don't fucking piss me off!"_

 _They all laughed harshly at him, and she asked him mockingly "Why should any of us be afraid of_ _ **you**_ _losing your temper, fag?"_

" _Because if you so much as try it, everything that I've tried to keep pent up since you started harassing me in the fall will erupt like a violent volcano!"_

" _Oh please, just shut up why don't you?" Clair responded, edging closer, and balling her hands into fists, aching to pummel his frail body. "I've got no reason to be afraid of you, of all people, losing your cool!"_

 _Armin snarled again "Don't do it, Clair! This is your last warning!"_

 _She ignored him and pulled back her fist, ready to begin her attack, when her world suddenly shifted, and Clair found herself back in her bedroom._

 _Shane was nowhere in sight, and the sky outside was pitch black, not even one star offering the nighttime world any light. Clair looked around her in confusion, and then noticed the slim, metal object in her hand._

 _The same pocketknife that had been used to slit Mina Carolina's throat lay poised and ready in her hand, the rust of that dyke's blood still covering the blade with speckled brown filth._

 _Clair laughed coldly, and bolted from her bed, seizing the door with her other hand. She yanked her dorm door open, and turned to walk to Armin's door, where she had an inherent, strange sense that he was waiting for her._

* * *

 _The void known as room 415 pulsed with swirling blood and fire as the resident growled with a bloodlust that longed to be satiated. He sensed that wretched girl coming towards his room, unaware of the horror that awaited her._

" _ **Go forth, my child!"**_ _he heard the mother whisper to him, her disembodied voice echoing within the hideous nexus._ _ **"Go forth and let her BURN!"**_

 _The black talons adorning his claws curled menacingly as he watched the door open by itself, swinging into the room and allowing him to exit. He heard the girl coming toward him, no doubt with that knife in her hand, and the resident felt his stored up rage ready to explode._

 _He scampered outside the swirling mass of rage and pain behind him, dancing down the hall and around the corner where she was coming towards him, completely unsuspecting._

" _There you are, you f-" she started to say, until she took notice of his form and let out a scream of horror._

 _Before she could turn and flee, the resident's three macabre companions erupted from the hall's shadows behind her, and seized her arms and neck, gripping her in a death vise. The resident charged towards her, and with outstretched claws, plunged his talons into her abdomen, letting out the same violent scream once heard within 415's walls._

 _His companions followed suit, sinking their own claws into her body, and at once, her scream of horror warped into a high-pitched shriek of agony as the hatred she had given each of them was swiftly returned all at once. The blood that poured out of her many wounds erupted into red fire, as the four creatures together roared with fury._

 _It took only a moment for her entire body to follow suit, the fire pouring out of her mouth and eyes, consuming her from within._

* * *

Shane woke up from his slumber to hear his girlfriend letting out a horrific, blood-curdling shriek as she writhed under him.

"Clair, what the hell?!" he asked her as he jumped off the bed, watching her twist and wriggle violently.

She didn't answer, only continuing to scream, clawing at her face, abdomen and arms, trying to fight off unseen attackers. Shane didn't dare touch her, afraid that she would mistakenly lash out at him.

Voices could be heard just outside the door, shouting in terror as Clair screamed and screamed without end. Spittle flew from her mouth as her head snapped to and fro, and her eyes remained snapped shut. She fell with a thud onto the floor, where her macabre movements continued. It looked almost as if she was possessed.

Shane looked at her helplessly, not knowing what he could do to stop her, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw somebody else standing in the dark corner of her room, watching Clair suffer in her bizarre torment with an icy cold expression.

To his fury, Shane recognized none other than Armin Arlert watching Clair scream, malice glinting in the boy's blue eyes.

" **YOU FUCKING FAGGOT**!" Shane screamed, and he advanced towards the boy, ready to snap his neck.

Before he could move an inch, Armin's gaze fell on him, and Shane shuddered as the boy slowly pulled back his lips into a twisted grin, revealing rows of razor sharp, dagger-like teeth that glinted in the slim moonlight shining through Clair's window.

All Shane could do was whimper as Armin let out a deep, rattling laugh that echoed within the room, bellowing with malicious humor as Clair's writhing turned into vicious spasms.

He watched then as Armin suddenly faded away, with his cruel blue eyes the last part of him to disappear. Shane was left alone with his girlfriend, who was still shaking violently.

Shane was only in his boxers, and as the pounding on his door got worse, he quickly yanked his pants back on before going to open the door. Kayla stood just outside Clair's room, along with a handful of other students, including the RA Hannah, who was at an utter loss for words.

"What the hell happened?!" Kayla screamed at him, watching her best friend shudder spasmodically.

"I-I don't know!" he answered truthfully. "I was asleep when she started screaming and wriggling, like she was having a really bad nightmare! And now, she's…she's…"

They all looked at Clair, and when they saw that she had suddenly stopped moving, and barely breathing, Kayla screamed to the crowd "Somebody get an ambulance!"

A few minutes later, paramedics loaded Clair, who was completely unconscious and comatose, onto a stretcher to be taken away to the nearby hospital. Shane and Kayla watched her go, as they continued to talk in hushed, terrified whispers.

"I saw him!" he told Kayla, who was paralyzed with fear. "I saw him sneering at us in the corner of her room! And…his teeth…"

Kayla shuddered and said back "I believe you. Similar things have been happening to me in my nightmares lately. Clair wouldn't take me seriously when I told her about the evil Armin that I won't stop seeing, and now…"

* * *

Elise watched Shane and Kayla talk in hushed whispers from just outside her room, as her thoughts reeled.

" _I had a bad feeling this would happen. This is what Clair gets for aching to kill Armin so badly."_

She felt a sneer fall on her face as she remembered the horrors that her friends put Mina and the two boys through.

" _And I'm positive that this must be some form of payback for what they also did to those three back in high school! But then, why have I not-"_

" **Because you're the only one out of this whole, disgusting gaggle of vermin who feels any remorse for the agony that they received."**

Elise whirled around and beheld the woman robed in black that Kayla had told her about, the woman who had taken Armin's place when Kayla had attempted to spy on him the week when everything on the 4th floor suddenly changed.

"It's you!" she whispered to the woman, who smirked down at Elise, towering over her at easily 6' tall.

" **Yes, I am the Watcher, girl,"** the woman replied, and Elise behind her to see that Kayla and Shane had no idea that they had a guest on their floor.

Elise shuddered at the vivid memory of Clair's violent screaming and asked the Watcher "What happened tonight?"

The Watcher told her **"It's quite simple. That girl, Clair, was given numerous warnings to stop planning her murder of Armin Arlert, and was given one final chance in the dream preceding her nightmare. Instead, she chose to continue arrogantly, and was struck down."**

"You mean, she died?!"

" **No, child. Clair has been incapacitated by the hatred that she showed Armin, along with the three victims from your high school: Nac Tias, Mylius Zeramuski, and Mina Carolina. She reaped the bitter reward of the agony she has sowed since driving Nac to suicide, and it is their collected pain that has now locked her within a coma."**

At the mention of Mina's name, Elise's heart fell, and the Watcher frowned bitterly at the grief on her face.

" **Then you know, girl, that you've been lied to this whole time. As you now have realized, Mina Carolina didn't commit suicide like those two boys."**

"But why would they lie to me?" Elise asked her, remembering that Kayla and Clair both had refused to tell her anything about what they had planned against her ex-best friend.

The Watcher answered her coldly **"Because they knew that if you found out the truth, you would raise utmost havoc and interfere with their plans to harm others in the future."**

" _Those bitches!"_

Behind her, Kayla and Shane walked away and out of sight, as the Watcher gave her a firm warning.

" **When you return to your hometown in a few days, it is there that you will understand what happened. Beware, girl, for the truth of what happened to Mina Carolina will no doubt horrify you, and shake you to the core of your soul."**

With that, the woman disappeared, leaving Elise alone to wonder what exactly she would see during her return home for spring break.


	9. That Night

**Trigger Warning: Moments of Homophobic Violence**

In his office, Levi sat at his desk and trembled with inflaming fury as he reread the email attachments that the anonymous hacker had sent him. Only two days ago, he had received the email, which had been sent from an utterly bizarre address, and had appropriately freaked out when he had seen the subject line.

 **Date:** March 16

 **Subject:** PLEASE READ-THREAT TO ARMIN ARLERT'S SAFETY

 _Dear RHD Levi,_

 _I am an expert in remote hacking, and I found out that one of the people living in Sansburg Hall, some prick named Shane, has been plotting to find and kill Armin Arlert, who was recently transferred to Wickson Hall. I have attached screenshots of Shane's conversation with his girlfriend, Clair, who has been plotting with him how to hunt Armin down._

 _Also, I found that this guy, while acting all "macho" and stuff, apparently…really enjoys gay porn. My girlfriend helped me identify several sites in his browser history that are known hubs for gay porn, and Shane has used these sites daily for a long time. I've attached screenshots of his visits to these sites along with the shots of his conversations with Clair. I'm not sure if this info in particular can help you punish him, but I wanted you to know either way._

 _For the sake of protecting myself, I'm sending you this email anonymously. There's no way the university would ever officially approve of another student hacking into somebody's personal computer, and I'd be bound for expulsion or worse if they find out._

 _Please bring these two scumbags to justice!_

The attachments that he had been supplied with gave Levi all the evidence he needed to bring the hammer down upon one of the Sansburg culprits at last. He had been unable to single out any of his residents in the dorm hall due to the lack of proof that was required to file documents with the Office of Student Conduct. But now, with the screenshots of Shane's plot to murder Armin Arlert in front of him, Levi Ackerman knew that his opportunity to strike had finally come.

" _This bastard is just like the trash who beat me up in that alley 10 years ago!"_ he thought, snarling as he recalled the pain and shame that endured years later. _"Same ridiculous 'alpha-male' attitude, and same sheer hypocrisy!"_

" _Oh, I'm going to enjoy the look on his face when he learns what I have in store for him."_

Earlier that morning, Levi had received an email from the nearby hospital that the same Clair who had been conversing with Shane over the plot to kill Armin was now in a coma. According to their investigation, Clair had suffered an extreme form of night terror that had left her severely dehydrated and in a shock that had been deep enough to rend her unconscious.

Levi had longed to know who exactly on the 4th floor of his hall had attempted to make Armin commit suicide, and he had a feeling that, after the disturbing events of the previous night and the mysterious email, he was finally getting warm.

He had sent Shane a scathing email only a few hours previous demanding that the scheming bastard meet him in his office, where Levi was aching to verbally rip off Shane's head for what he and Clair had been plotting.

 **Date:** March 18

 **Subject:** Required Meeting-Disciplinary Action

 _Shane,_

 _I have received proof that, together with your girlfriend Clair, a resident of the 4th floor, you have been developing a plan to murder Armin Arlert, a previous resident of Sansburg who transferred out of here a few weeks ago. You will meet me in my office at 10:30 a.m., no exceptions, and no excuses, to discuss this serious matter and the accompanying disciplinary punishment that will result._

 _If you fail to show up as I have told you to, I will alert the Office of Student Conduct, and they will deal with you accordingly._

 _RHD Levi_

Shane showed up at his office right on the dot, knocking awkwardly on his door.

"Enter!" Levi barked, and he glared up at the blonde bastard with murderous anger as Shane walked in.

Levi jabbed a finger at the seat opposite his desk, and Shane took it, watching the RHD warily and already starting to sweat from stress. For a brief pause, neither of them spoke, until Shane suddenly snapped at Levi out of the blue.

"Why the hell did you drag me down here?!" Shane yelled, while Levi remained unflinching in his seething fury. "Just what kind of 'proof' do you have that Clair and I want to kill Armin?"

" **This**."

Levi seized his computer monitor and swiveled it around forcibly, so that Shane could read the email attachments. He watched in cold satisfaction as Shane's angry face fell into horror.

He sputtered and started cussing left and right, pausing to ask Levi "How the fuck did you get into my online conversations?"

"I didn't," Levi answered, smirking at the student's distress. "Somebody else did, an anonymous person who happened to find this plot of yours free of charge, and without anybody asking them to."

"So I got hacked? That shit's illegal!"

"That shit also gave me proof of what Armin was talking about, about the people in this dorm hall who were constantly trying to make his life a living Hell. You disgust me, both you and your girlfriend."

Shane growled at him, and shouted "Don't you care that Clair's in the hospital?!"

Levi answered him coldly "Officially, my answer to you is that I'm shocked. As an employee of this university, I'm not allowed to express my true feelings on this matter."

"So you're happy that she's in a coma!"

"I didn't say that," Levi answered, sneering at him.

Shane glanced at the monitor, and his whole face went pale as he saw screenshots of his browser history in the email attachments. Levi laughed harshly at the look on his face, knowing that the reality of the situation was hitting the student like a train.

"W-what-" Shane tried to say, as Levi rotated the monitor back to its original position.

"That's right, you filthy hypocrite," Levi snapped. "You, Clair, and likely many others have been calling Armin Arlert a faggot for this long, all while you've been jerking off to guys banging around on porn sites. I know your type, the 'macho' guy who demeans effeminate men out of the view that anybody 'girly' is weak and worthless. But goodness', just take a look at yourself. A would-be Christian lad going around wounding others to preserve his precious sense of masculinity. What a joke."

" **I saw him in Clair's room last night**!" Shane suddenly screamed out of nowhere, and this time, Levi couldn't help but be taken aback.

"…Excuse me?" Levi answered cautiously, noting how deranged Shane's demeanor had instantly become.

"I woke up to her screaming and writhing in pain, and I saw that faggot standing in the corner, sneering at her as she suffered! And when I tried to attack him, he revealed a mouth filled with terrifying, shark-like teeth! He…he looked like…"

Shane shuddered and whimpered " **Like a demon!** "

Levi was momentarily stunned, uncertain if he was supposed to take Shane's random outburst seriously. The dolt was staring at Levi earnestly, likely hoping for the RHD to answer with something sympathetic.

" _So not only is he a sadistic piece of shit, he's also somewhat insane?"_

"Your terror over what happened to your precious girlfriend has no doubt left you shaken," Levi finally answered, watching Shane tense up in frustration at his bland response. "But for crying out loud, you shouldn't be imagining a nightmarish version of Armin Arlert, of all people, popping up around you at night. Perhaps you're obsessed with him."

"I am not!" Shane snapped back, but Levi couldn't hope to believe him.

There was something else that Levi needed to interrogate Shane about, and it wasn't until he took another glance at the screenshot of the talk with Clair that he remembered.

"Before I allow you to leave, I need you to tell me. Who is this Mina Carolina that Clair told you about?"

At the mention of that name, Shane tensed up, and Levi knew then that he had struck investigative gold.

"N-nobody!" Shane tried to tell Levi, who only laughed harshly at the obvious lie.

"Oh, please. Don't bother lying to me, boy. I did a bit of research this morning, and I found out that Mina Carolina was a girl in Clair's hometown who was found dead in a park, the summer she graduated with the rest of Clair's class. While that city and the school never openly said it, the few articles on her death online hint that she was murdered for being an open lesbian. And based on what Clair has told you, I think it's likely that your beloved girlfriend may have had a hand in her death. Right?"

To his satisfaction, Shane had turned white as a ghost, and Levi sneered triumphantly.

"That's what I thought," he said, sniggering as Shane stood up and tried to walk away.

The brat glared down at him, but Levi wasn't afraid of the blonde coward. He stood up to, still sneering up at the student, and went on.

"You may go, Shane, but know this: the Office of Student Conduct now knows that you and Clair were involved in whatever happened to Armin on the 4th floor of this hall, and after their investigation into this matter is finished, it's likely that both of you will face expulsion for posing a sincere harm to another student's life. And I am **quite** afraid to say that Clair's comatose status won't save her from receiving her punishment, especially after the stunt she tried to pull with Armin in his bookstore yesterday."

Levi glanced at his computer again, and then told Shane "That, and I've chosen to alert the authorities in her hometown that she is likely behind Mina Carolina's death."

Shane huffed pathetically and stormed out of the office, leaving Levi to smirk like a satisfied cat at having brutally shattered the prick's massive ego.

" _My one worry, though, is that I still don't know exactly how many people harassed Armin. I want to ensure total prosecution, and leave none of these scum unscathed by the hand of justice. There's also…"_

Levi frowned, his brow furrowed, as he silently wondered _"Just what the hell happened to this girl named Mina Carolina?"_

* * *

While he sat at one of the tables lining the interior of the campus café, waiting for Reiner to return from the restroom, Armin pondered everything he had seen since meeting his beau.

" _So Dad and Uncle Joey were once lovers, huh? That does explain why Uncle Joey was weeping so hard at the funeral…_

That awful day, Uncle Joey had been beyond inconsolable, sobbing and wailing as the caskets were buried in the city graveyard. Back then, Armin had assumed that it was simply out of his bond with the Arlert family, but his newfound revelation gave that moment a much deeper context.

His thoughts drifted back to the sudden appearance of Shane in his room the night he had that dream, and Armin couldn't help but shudder as he recalled the horrific shrieking he had heard as that woman had fought "Shane" off.

" _I don't get it! If that wasn't really Shane, then who…or, I guess-_ _ **what**_ _did I see? Don't tell me that it was really-"_

" **YOU**!"

Armin froze up in his chair as he instantly recognized the angry deep voice of Shane himself. The blonde guy was storming towards him from the café's front entrance, looking utterly enraged. Reiner was still in the restroom, leaving Armin to fend for himself.

Shane stomped up to him and snarled "How the hell did you get into Clair's room last night?!"

"Wait, **what**?!" Armin answered, at a loss for words.

"Don't play coy with me, you fucking faggot! I know you're behind whatever happened to my girlfriend, and now, I'm gonna beat your ass into the ground for it!"

" _I don't have a damn clue what he's talking about!"_

Armin rolled his eyes and snapped back "I was sound asleep in my room last night, you idiot. Either you're lying, or you're delusional enough to think that I'd ever want to be near Sansburg Hall or any of you shitheads!"

"Shitheads? Watch your mouth, faggot!"

"Watch yours, you fucking hypocrite!"

Shane looked truly taken aback at how abrasive Armin's language had turned out to be, and beneath the surface, Armin was shocked too. Ever since he had snapped weeks prior within room 415, his rate of swearing had rapidly worsened, along with his view of the people who had hurt him.

A crowd of onlookers was starting to surround the blonde pair as they continued to shout at each other. Armin's fear of being alone was now swept away by the hatred within him that had failed to abate, even after leaving Sansburg Hall for good.

"What the hell are you calling me a hypocrite for?!"

Armin let out a sharp, cold laugh and told him "We both know what I mean, Shane! My friend found out what you like to do in your free time, and after seeing how you looked at me so thirstily that night back in the winter, I can't say that I'm surprised. As my friends figured, you really do enjoy beating your meat to the rhythm of guys pounding each other on porn hubs."

Shane's face flushed crimson as several of the onlookers starting sniggering at him. Armin was reveling in his newfound malice, and ached to lash out further.

"It would be so sad if your dumb bitch of a girlfriend found out about your little secret, now wouldn't it?" Armin asked him, leering up at him like the Cheshire cat and rising up from his seat, standing only a few inches away from Shane.

He noticed that the instant he sneered at Shane, the jock's angry face contorted into a look of sheer horror.

As Armin pondered why the coward was so freaked out by nothing but a nasty look, Shane screamed at him "My girlfriend is in the hospital because of you!"

The laughter instantly stopped, and Armin's leer momentarily fell as he innocently asked "What the hell are you talking about?"

" **Clair is in a coma right now because of whatever you pulled last night**!"

The words sunk in, but before Armin allowed himself to wonder how exactly Clair could've gotten herself into a coma overnight, he felt his leer return, and his cruelty suddenly peaked.

He looked Shane in the eye, and hissed back " **Good. I hope that stupid c—t never wakes up.** "

Both Shane and the crowd gasped in alarm at the violent malice in Armin's words, and then, Shane moved forward, ready to punch him with balled up fists.

Before anything else could happen, Shane's wrist was seized by Reiner, who had finally returned from the restroom. Shane froze up when he saw Reiner, and Armin knew that he was no doubt confusing his lover with his father.

"You lay one finger on him, you prick, I'll break every bone in your body!" Reiner snarled at Shane.

It took only a moment for Shane to snarl back "Fuck it," and storm away out of sight, leaving the crowd to disperse among murmurs, and for Reiner to look down at Armin with a worried look on his face.

"Well, thank goodness this is our last day before spring break, I need a break from all of this," Armin said lightheartedly, laughing and trying to diffuse the tension still palpable in the room.

Reiner didn't react whatsoever, and only continued to look at Armin silently.

After a painfully long moment, Reiner finally said to him "Buddy, it sounded like you were wishing death on Clair."

Armin bit his lip, and muttered back sheepishly "I'm sorry you had to hear that, Reiner, really, but it's true. After what she and the others did to me, I'd be thrilled if they suddenly died. I hate them for what I went through, and that's the ugly truth."

"Armin, buddy, this isn't like you to want other people to suffer like that. I'm not saying that you aren't allowed to be angry over what they did, but that's…bud, that's sadism in action. And it's still monstrous, especially when it comes from a normally sweet guy like you."

Reiner wrapped a bulky arm around Armin's waist, pulled him close, and led them away out of the café, and back to Wickson Hall, where they needed to finish packing for the break they both desperately needed.

* * *

On the eve of spring break, in the Leonhardt house, Annie, her father and Helen sat around the kitchen table, quietly sipping away at a cheap bottle of moscato wine. All three of them were relieved that spring break had finally come for Armin, who had been put through the wringer for the first half of the spring semester.

"Is he recovering ok, Annie?" Helen asked her as she slowly drank the wine.

Annie nodded and told her "From what I've seen, he is. But he still has issues with tensing up in his room, whenever he hears people suddenly laughing in the halls. I don't blame him."

"Neither do I. That's a symptom of post-traumatic stress."

"You must be right."

Ernest Leonhardt remained silent, only glad to have his daughter home for a little while.

Outside, a waning half-moon peaked out through the clouds, providing the dark nighttime world with slim illumination. It was a still spring night, with hardly a soul in sight outside their house.

Annie frowned bitterly as she said to them "Armin told me that Connie Springer found out through his hacking skills that Clair, the cheerleading captain, likely had a major hand in Mina's murder. We still don't know what exactly happened, though, and it's so frustrating not knowing the entire truth."

"I know, sweetie," Helen answered softly, placing her hand on top of Annie's. "That poor police woman keeps coming by almost every week, so that the two of us can try to determine who killed my daughter. But of course, no luck there."

" _We don't even know if it was one of the girls in our school who killed Mina…"_ Annie thought bitterly. _"Whoever it was, they may have been an outsider not originally from here. I'm glad that Armin lives far away from this wretched city, this place is so uncaring about the LGBT people who live here."_

* * *

That night, back in her hometown at last, Elise put on a jacket and prepared for a relaxing walk in the park, where she could temporarily forget the chaos of Sansburg Hall.

"I'm going for a walk in the park, Mom and Dad!" she shouted over her shoulder as she walked out the front door.

"Stay safe, dear!" they called back as she swung the door shut behind her.

It was a cool, still evening, and Elise was completely alone as she traversed to the park, which was less than a mile from her house. When she arrived at her childhood favorite place, she chose to stand still and take in the picturesque scenery surrounding her. The first round of spring flowers dotted the area, and more buds held promises for even more beauty.

To her left was a spinning wheel style carousel, a horseless and plainer version of the carnival ride seen at amusement parks. The blackened metal was still coated with raindrops from the recent shower that had fallen over the small town.

Elise gazed up at the waning moon, thinking of Mina, who shared her hobby of sky gazing at night. The distant memory of their trip to the lake on the outskirts of town that summer night years ago called to her, haunting her with its bittersweet place in her heart.

" _That…was the last time we hung out, before I met Kayla…"_ she mused. _"That was the summer before we started as freshmen in high school, and I…"_

She sighed, not willing to bring upon the painful memories of tossing her best friend away for a chance to get with the popular crowd.

As she continued to gaze up at the moonlight hidden behind a curtain of dark clouds, a different, gloomy thought drifted through her mind.

"… _wait. This was where it happened, wasn't it?_ _ **This**_ _is where Mina was found dead!"_

A sharp creaking resounded behind her, nearly giving Elise a heart attack. She whirled around to see the metal wheel slowly turning counter-clockwise.

"What the-"

To her horror, the wheel gradually picked up speed by itself, whirling around and around, faster and faster, making her dizzy. Elise shut her eyes and clutched her head as it throbbed viciously. The wheel continued to spin by itself, with no obvious force guiding it.

When it finally ceased spinning, the wheel emitted an ominous screech reminiscent of nails on chalk. Elise opened her eyes and blinked slowly as she took in her surroundings.

While she was still in the park, the flowers were gone, completely replaced by heavy green foliage. Instead of a waning half-moon hidden by clouds, a clear, starry night spanned the sky above her. It was no longer chilly, but rather humid, and Elise was already starting to sweat.

" _It feels like summertime. What the hell just happened?"_

She looked around, and her sight fell on the one other person in the park, absentmindedly gazing up at the stars just like Elise had with the moon only moments before. Elise gazed at the person closely before gasping in recognition.

Standing several feet away from her was none other than Mina Carolina, looking weary, forlorn, and unaware that Elise was watching her.

"M-Mina?!" Elise stuttered, utterly confused at the sight of her deceased ex-best friend.

Elise was about to walk to her, when she saw a shadowy figure crawl out of the bushes lining the far end of the park behind Mina. To her horror, a glint of steel suddenly erupted in the figure's hand, and Elise quickly realized what she was about to see.

"Mina, look out!" she shouted, but to no avail, for Mina showed no reaction.

The figure broke into a dash as they neared Mina, and before the girl could move, they slashed her with their pocketknife, provoking a horrific shriek of pain.

Elise screamed as she recognized Mina's assailant, who cackled with cruel mirth as they slashed away at her ex-best friend, while Mina tried desperately to defend herself. All Elise could do was stand helplessly and watch the memory of Mina Carolina's death be played out before her, just as the Watcher had warned.


	10. Matters of Life and Death

The nightmarish image of Mina's death was still fresh in Elise's mind as she sat with Kayla and the rest of her friends on the 4th floor's lounge, the Monday morning after spring break had ended. As she sat silently processing what she had gleaned from the vision that she had been thrown into at the park, Elise struggled to not hyperventilate.

" _I know who it was!"_ she thought, her horror gradually shifting to fury. _"It was Zach, Kayla's boyfriend!"_

" _How the hell did he know that Mina would be at the park that night? Was he stalking her?!"_

She had met Zach, two years their senior and a guy who had been expelled from high school for violent behavior, at a party that Kayla had thrown their junior year. Elise had been instantly turned off by his sleazy manners, and a constant obsession with hating gay people.

Elise still remembered hearing Zach that night roar to her "That fucking faggot ruined my family's reputation when I was a 5th grader, and one day, I'll find him and make him suffer for it!"

Nobody had elaborated on who exactly it was that had brought about the downfall of Zach's family. All Elise knew was that whatever had happened, Zach and his family had left the state for several years, before returning and settling down in Elise and Mina's hometown. When Zach had met Kayla their sophomore year, the two hit it off instantly, their combined sadistic natures complementing each other perfectly.

She sat silently fuming as Kayla sputtered on and on about the disturbing events befalling the 4th floor.

"First I had that nightmare about Armin telling me he wanted to make me suffer, and now, Clair's in a coma!" she said to the rest of them, shuddering and on edge. "She should've listened to me and waited for me to bring Zach here before trying to get this done her way!"

At that, Elise's blood ran cold.

" _She's trying to bring Zach to this campus?"_

One of the other girls asked Kayla "What is Zach going to do?"

" **You know exactly what he'll do to that boy, girl."**

The cold voice of the Watcher rang through her mind, as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place before Elise.

Kayla answered "He's going to get the revenge he's wanted for so long! Zach will make that damned faggot scream as he punishes him for humiliating his family back then! And this time, his precious police daddy won't be around to save him."

" _No!"_

"Armin has no idea that Zach is coming for him! And when Zach finally finds him, I can only imagine what-"

" **NO!** " Elise screamed, and the entire group fell silent, looking at her in alarm.

"The fuck?" Kayla asked her, taken aback and utterly confused.

"I won't let you, Kayla! This has gone way too far, and you all know it!"

"Oh shut up, Elise!" Kayla snapped back. "Quit whining and stay out of my way, why don't you?"

"Shut the fuck up! I won't let you do to Armin what you and that piece of trash did to Mina!"

The entire group was stunned in shock, and Elise watched furiously as all of the blood drained from Kayla's face as she realized that the wool had been yanked off of Elise's eyes.

"H-how the fuck did you-" she started to say, before Elise cut her off and continued to scream.

"You bitch! You and Clair told me that Mina went to the park that night to commit suicide, but you deliberately lied to my face! You had Zach stalk her, find out about her nightly walks in the park and murder her while nobody else was around to see! You sick freak!"

Elise advanced towards Kayla, huffing, puffing and ready to violently attack her. One of the other girls jumped up and tried to seize her, but when she did, Elise backhanded the girl savagely, sending her crashing to the floor as the rest of the group scooted away in terror.

"You had Mina killed to satisfy your horrible bloodlust, just like you pushed Nac and Mylius over the edge for no other reason! It's a damn miracle that Armin didn't become your fourth victim, and you, Clair and all the rest deserve every bit of Hell you've received for what you've done!"

Kayla tried to speak up, and Elise shrieked in her face **"MURDERER!"**

With that, Elise stormed away from the group and into her room, slamming the door shut and continuing to seethe with her newfound fury. The catharsis of unleashing her pent up contempt was utter freedom, and Elise knew that she couldn't stop at simply ranting in Kayla's face.

" _I have no intention of letting that bitch get away with this!"_ she thought, yanking her phone out of her pocket and opening up her photo gallery. _"She's been arrogant enough to completely underestimate me, and it's Kayla's own fault for being stupid enough to think that I'd never end up snapping eventually."_

Elise snarled in disgust as she scrolled down to the pictures of the notes that Kayla had made her take, along with a selfie of Kayla holding up the letter demanding that Armin kill himself, grinning from ear to ear. After Elise had been forced to take the picture and share it with her, Kayla had sent it to her mother Maggie, who was even more of a sadistic monster than her daughter, as proof of her vile deeds.

" _I know exactly what to do with this. I'm taking these to RHD Levi. But first, there's something else I need to do…"_

She bit her lip hesitantly, and her thoughts drifted to Annie Leonhardt, Mina's best friend who had replaced her once Elise had abandoned Mina in high school. Their whole group knew that Annie had come to the university where they all would follow suit, the college less than an hour away from Mina's hometown.

While she knew that she was placing herself at the mercy of the same girl who had once violently attacked and beaten down numerous of Kayla's girlfriends at once for hurting Mina, Elise also knew that Annie would know how to keep Armin safe from potential death.

Elise opened her direct messaging, and once she found Annie Leonhardt's name, went to work typing up a desperate plea.

* * *

On her way back from class, Annie stopped in shock when she heard her phone's message alert sound go off. She hastily yanked her phone out, and gazed down at confusion at the massive message.

"Who the fuck-" she started to say, and then, Annie gritted her teeth in anger as she recognized the name of Mina's previous best friend.

" _Why the hell is this idiot messaging me?"_

Annie opened up the message, and made herself read it, despite her trepidations.

 **Elise:** _"I know that you hate me, and the rest of those girls for what happened to Mina, and I don't blame you. But I need to tell you, especially you, about this._

 _I know who killed her. I know who murdered Mina. The truth was under my nose this entire time, and I'm disgusted with myself for not realizing sooner. I couldn't understand because Kayla and Clair did everything they could to hide the truth from me._

 _I have reason to believe that Mina's killer intends to do the same thing to Armin very soon. Please, I'm begging you, meet me at the campus café in one hour. I have too many things that I need you to know._

 _I'm not asking you to forgive me, Annie Leonhardt, because I don't think that I deserve any forgiveness for what I allowed to happen to Mina. But please, please, give me this chance to make things right so that nobody else gets hurt!"_

She looked up from her phone and shuddered violently.

"That…was so not what I thought I'd be reading!" Annie muttered under her breath as she bolted in the direction of the café.

" _But how the hell did she find out when our whole town refused to investigate?"_

* * *

Levi sat down with Elise in his office as they scrolled through the pictures on her phone, the RHD's face gradually becoming more and more horrified as he read through the notes. When they got to the suicide letter, and the selfie of Kayla holding it with that awful grin on her face, Levi had to look away before the nausea building up in him worsened.

"This is…I…" he tried to speak, disgusted and unable to find the words.

Elise's head was bowed in shame, and she told him "She's been like this since high school, sir. This is what she did to the three gay students in our class."

"Including Mina?"

" **Especially** Mina," she said, tears budding in the corners of her eyes.

When Elise had come knocking at his door, Levi was not prepared for the girl to openly confess to being one of the girls from the 4th floor who had joined in on Armin's suffering. Before Levi had the chance to ask her too many questions, Elise had started sobbing about realizing that Kayla had plotted with her boyfriend Zach to kill Mina Carolina, the lesbian girl that Clair had mentioned in her conversation with Shane.

It didn't take long for the two of them to connect the dots between the two cases, and realize that the parallel wasn't just a coincidence. After Elise had told Levi that she had heard Kayla openly affirm that Zach intended to murder Armin just like he had done to Mina, Levi had seized his keyboard to pound out a hurried email to the Office of Student Conduct, alerting them to the news.

"I am truly, sincerely sorry that you found out how she died," Levi said, frowning bitterly as he shook his head. "Remind me, and don't hold back any details, how did you find out who killed her?"

Elise took a deep breath and told him "Over spring break, I took a nighttime stroll to the park where she died, and…I don't know exactly what happened, but all of a sudden, it seemed to become summertime, which was the season she died in, and…I saw Zach run her down with that pocketknife in his hand! He started slashing at her, punching her brutally as she screamed and-"

She broke down into hysterical sobbing, and Levi carefully patted her hand. The story reminded him of how several of his gay friends had been taken from him, their lives ripped to shreds by violent men and women who actively sought the destruction of anybody who wasn't explicitly straight. He himself had been a victim of that cruelty, when he had been beaten within an inch of his life at the age of 21 one night after a group of drunkards cornered him in an alley outside a bar.

Levi gently told her "It is beyond vital that you told me all of this. You likely just saved Armin's life. But as you probably know, I can't guarantee that you won't get disciplined too, for being an accomplice in what Kayla and the others did."

Elise nodded, wiping her tears away and said "I understand. But what will you do, sir? Do you know what's supposed to be done to stop this?"

"I'm already on it. I just sent an urgent email to the Office of Student Conduct asking them to investigate any and all sources of information they have on Kayla. It's likely that they'll end up asking your high school and the police department in your hometown for anything on her that might help them. I'll gladly let the police know about Zach being Mina's killer. There's also…"

Levi grimaced, and said "I need you to evacuate from Sansburg Hall asap. From what you've told me, this group numbers almost 20 girls, and if they realize that you ratted them out, I can't guarantee that Hannah and I can protect you. Is there somebody you're close with who you can temporarily seek shelter with on this campus?"

"Yeah, one of my classmates in Intro to Anthropology. She lives in an apartment off campus."

"Good. Give me her email address, and I'll let her know that this is an extreme emergency. I want you to get out of here as soon as you can. If need be, I can email your professors to let them know that this places priority over academics. Your safety will likely be endangered should Kayla find out about this. I'll need you to email me these pictures of everything as proof to present to the authorities."

She nodded, and said back "Got it. I'll start packing up right away then."

* * *

Annie stood in the middle of the café, trembling with terror and rage as she ran over the message in her mind over and over again.

" _So Elise really didn't have a damn clue about Kayla's plot to kill Mina. That's sinister! It sounds like Kayla has a severe lack of empathy, then. From what I've read, she just might be a textbook sociopath."_

She tensed up further when she recognized Elise as the frail girl came walking in the main entrance. When Elise saw her standing in the middle of the café, she came nearly jogging up to her.

Annie snarled at her "I don't know if you're an idiot, ridiculously brave, or both for showing me your face after what you did to Mina. Do you have a death wish?"

"Partially," Elise answered, and Annie couldn't help but flinch at how honest the response was.

"Whatever. Tell me what the fuck is going on!"

Elise shuddered and told her about the horrifying vision she had received at the park, and mentioned the dark woman who had warned her about what she would see, the entity who called herself the Watcher.

Annie grimaced as she recalled the terrifying dream she had seen the day she found out about Armin's torment, where what appeared to be the same woman had seized her in a death-like grip and shrieked violently **"THEY WILL BURN!"**

After Elise finished telling her about Mina's killer, a lightbulb went off in Annie's head, and she whimpered to herself and Elise "N-no, please no! You're telling me that the Zach who harassed Armin in elementary school is the same Zach that wants to kill him now?!"

"Yes, from what Zach told me, he's the very same asshole."

"I have to let Armin know!" Annie said, seizing her phone and furiously typing in a text message to her best friend.

The instant it got sent, she glanced back at Elise and asked her "What will you do now? If Kayla finds out that you've betrayed her, she's probably going to want to kill you, quite literally! Not to mention, Zach might try to hunt you down instead!"

Elise shrugged helplessly and told Annie "Then, I…I don't know. Right now, RHD Levi said that I need to stay low and out of Kayla's grasp. And honestly, maybe death is what I deserve, for letting so many innocent people suffer when I had the chance to step in and stop those two."

Annie watched her closely, and muttered "Mina did tell me a lot about you, of course. She missed you, up until her last day. She always said that despite how hurt she was over you abandoning her for Kayla and the rest of the trash, she still cherished the good times you had together, especially…especially the night you spent stargazing at the lake."

She watched Elise fight back tears, and heard her say "I let her…I let her..."

Annie had to fight back the urge to weep with her, as hearing her own self-deprecating thoughts be echoed by Mina's ex-best friend provoked the well of grief in her heart.

"Obviously, you know that I'm not about to up and forgive you for abandoning Mina," she said to Elise. "But still, I can't deny that what you're doing is likely going to stop Armin from becoming Kayla's newest victim. For that, I'll begrudgingly admit that I respect your sudden moment of courage."

Elise sighed sadly and whispered "T-thank you. I need to get going, my friend is waiting outside. Is it…"

She gave Annie a pleading look, and asked her earnestly "Is it ok if I go apologize to Armin?"

Annie pondered her for a second, and told her "Fine. He's at the bookstore right now, but do be careful. His manager won't take kindly to another Sansburg girl showing up in her store after what Clair tried to do."

"Right."

She watched Elise go, and thought to herself _"This girl…she really never was a cruel person to begin with. But for Mina's sake, and for hers too, I wish she had been braver back then."_

* * *

Armin read the text message Annie had sent him and shuddered violently as he remembered Zach's cruelty, already budding even when the bully had just been in 5th grade.

 **Annie:** _"Armin! Zach, that bastard who picked on you in 5_ _th_ _grade, he's the one who killed Mina, and he's Kayla's boyfriend too! He's out to get you next! I'll give you all the details later, but for now, be on guard and stay safe!"_

"Holy shit!" he muttered under his breath as he sat at the bookstore's front desk.

" _That was him that night, wasn't it?"_ he thought, remembering the guy on Kayla's phone who had called him a "cock-sucking faggot" the night everything peaked in Sansburg. _"It was him that screamed that insult at me!"_

His thoughts were interrupted by the front doors banging open, and to his alarm, Elise, the enigmatic third member of the Sansburg Trio ran inside, right up to the front desk, looking madly desperate.

"A-Armin!" she gasped, clutching the wooden desk and sweating profusely. "I need to talk to you!"

Behind her, Armin saw the two burly security officers crouched and ready to tackle her. He motioned to them to be still, and focused on Elise, frowning and not knowing what to think.

"What do you want? Why the hell would you come here after what happened to Clair?"

Elise nodded and she told him "Clair absolutely deserved that, without a doubt. And after knowing what I know now, that piece of shit fully deserves to be locked in her coma!"

The rage in Elise's tone took Armin by surprise, because she had never expressed anything other than apathy and what he figured was fake malice towards him.

"What the hell happened to Clair?!"

"In her nightmare, all of the pain that she caused to you, and her other victims got returned to her all at once, and apparently rendered her unconscious," Elise explained, as Armin only gawked at her. "At least, that's what the Watcher woman told me."

"Wait, who?"

"Sorry, never mind that. The point is, I came here to apologize for letting that shit happen to you, and to warn you."

Armin shuddered, showed her Annie's text, and asked her "You mean Zach? Were you the one who told Annie about Mina's killer?"

"Yes!" Elise's whole demeanor looked nothing short of manic. "It was him who killed Mina, and I heard Kayla say that he's plotting to do the same to you when the time is right!"

"That's…sick."

"And Kayla lied to me about what happened! She ensured that Mina would get killed by her psychotic boyfriend! She… **she**..."

"Elise, we gotta go!" somebody shouted from outside, and Elise groaned.

"I'm so sorry!" she wailed to Armin as she bolted from the bookstore, leaving Armin and the two officers utterly confused.

His manager emerged from her office, and muttered "What the heck just happened?"

Armin turned to her and said "She changed, that one. But this is all happening too fast!"

* * *

"Babe, Elise knows that you're the one who killed Mina!"

Kayla sat in her dorm room, still shaken by the events of that morning. Evening was falling outside, turning the entire world a deep, husky blue as Kayla shook with terror.

"Who gives a shit?" Zach snapped back over the phone. "One whiny bitch can't stop me from ripping that faggot to pieces!"

"Wait a sec, ok?!" Kayla said to him. "Clair's in a coma, and I don't want to something similar to happen to you!"

"Stop worrying already. I'm sure that Clair only freaked out about a bad dream too much. I'm not superstitious, and you shouldn't be either."

"This is more than just superstition!"

"Be quiet Kayla! If you're so freaked out about me somehow getting hurt, then why don't you stop whining and do this yourself?"

It was the same accusation that Clair had made before that horrible night had happened. None of them knew that, in stark contrast to Kayla's sadistic nature, she hated getting blood on her own hands.

"I mean…"

Zach said harshly "It's just like your mom said, Kayla, you're too soft. I'm more than ready to get the revenge I've longed for, but if your mom catches wind of you feeling iffy about any of this, we both know you're dead meat."

" _He's right, she would disown me!"_

It was, after all, her mother who had ordered her to not stop with her cruelty until Armin had either committed suicide, or one of them had taken his life.

"Fine, babe. Let's see which of us gets it done quicker."

"A race, huh? I like it, babe. Talk to you soon."

He hung up on her, leaving Kayla to brood.

" _I gotta make sure my mom doesn't think I'm weak like Elise. I gotta hunt that faggot down soon, before anything else creepy happens on this floor, and before mom accuses me of not having my heart in this!"_

* * *

 _Elise fell into the dream of the darkened halls of the 4_ _th_ _floor soon after crashing on her friend's couch. Once more, nothing could be seen except for the outlines of the doors lining both sides of the hall._

 _Suddenly, a hellish red light erupted beneath what must've been room 415, casting a grisly scarlet hue over the hall. Elise wasn't able to budge, and could only watch as the dream shifted into a nightmare._

 _From beneath the door, a swirling mixture of blood and fire oozed out, and quickly covered the entire floor. When the miasma covered the peeling paint strips, it looked to Elise like the 4_ _th_ _floor was covered in rotting flesh that was starting to rip away in painful pieces._

" _ **AND NOW, IT BEGINS."**_

 _From out of sight, the Watcher's voice echoed down the hall, as the blood and fire seeping out from Armin's old room finished covering everything in sight. Elise shuddered as she watched the door, now blackened and ruined, swing inwards._

 _A scarlet, scaly arm tipped with razor-sharp black talons slowly creeped out of the room, twitching sporadically as it moved about, grasping for something unseen. When it swung towards Elise, it ceased twitching and flipped its wrist with a sickening cracking noise, and withdrew back into the void._

" _ **The hatred and agony that Kayla has sowed shall be given back to her, just as Clair reaped the bitter fruits of her own cruelty. Kayla has denied the pain she has caused for so long, and it is time for her to face the brutal reality of her choices."**_

 _Elise watched the demonic arm extend again, this time pointing its index finger right at her. It swiveled to its right, pointing down the floor at the room overlooking the hallway in front of it, Kayla's dorm room._

 _At once, the swirling miasma converged on her room, and when it seeped below her door, the same scarlet light lit up from within._

" _ **She will burn in the fire that she started long ago."**_


	11. The Girl with a Blood-soaked Faith

**Trigger Warning: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Suicide and Disturbing Imagery**

Kayla chased Armin through the backstreets of the campus, as night gradually fell around them. In her right hand, she held the knife used to kill Mina Carolina, flipped open and ready to be used for the slaughter once more.

Although Kayla had no recollection of how she had suddenly gained the knife, nor how she had started chasing Armin, who had bolted from the shadows of one of the buildings as she had been out looking for him, Kayla was determined to finish it once and for all.

"This is the end, you damned faggot!" she screamed, huffing and puffing as she chased Armin to the alleyway between two of the oldest brick buildings on the campus.

Armin was now trapped against the dead end in the alleyway, and when he looked at her, Kayla sneered with satisfaction at the overwhelming fear in his blue eyes. The moment had come for her to finally prove to her mother, Zach and everybody else that she was not to be taken lightly.

Just as she was about to charge forward and stab him to death, a violent thunderclap resounded overhead, and Kayla looked up at the sky in alarm as white lightning danced across the clouds. The arc lightning spun and flashed over and over again for several seconds, before Kayla looked back at the dead end where Armin was.

She froze in horror when she saw the cruel smile on his face, exposing the rows of razor-sharp, carnivorous teeth that Shane had seen that awful night. Kayla shuddered violently as Armin suddenly faded away into thin air, leaving her alone and petrified with confusion.

" _What the hell?"_ she thought as she backed out of the alleyway. _"Was that really Armin that I chased here?!"_

Her terrified thoughts were interrupted by the pitter-patter of rain falling over her. Kayla turned and began to walk briskly away from the old end of the campus, desperate to get back to the shelter of Sansburg Hall.

As she walked, unnerved at the rapid change of events, thunder continued to boom all around her as lightning danced across the dark sky, the clouds shifting in color from dark grey to a sickening green that looked like the color of poison.

Kayla increased her pace, desperate to escape the ominous storm, which looked like it could shift at any moment into something severe, even a tornado. She breathed heavily as she walked, and felt a shiver go down her spine when she heard footsteps rapidly coming her way.

When she turned around, unable to see anything in the darkness that had fallen over the entire campus, Kayla could only hear ragged breathing and what sounded like sobbing coming from the person stumbling towards her. The lightning flashed violently once more, and Kayla stopped in her tracks when she finally recognized who was walking towards her.

Nac Tias, the first of her victims in their high school, was walking haphazardly towards her, sobbing maniacally and carrying a knife of his own, clutched in a spasmodic hand. Kayla shuddered and squeezed her pocketknife for reassurance, alarmed at the appearance of the dead boy.

"Why are you here?" she screamed at Nac, who only continued to sob as he came closer to her.

In response, when he was less than a foot away from her, Nac suddenly seized his knife and violently slashed open his wrist, releasing a horrid spray of blood that splattered over Kayla's hands, which she had instinctively put out before her in a defensive reflex.

Kayla shrieked in terror as Nac collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony and weeping loudly for several painfully long seconds, before finally ceasing movement.

" _This…this is how the faggot killed himself!"_ Kayla remembered, frozen as still as a statue as she looked down at Nac's corpse. _"He slit his wrist in his house one night! And only a few days after that-"_

Sure enough, coming up behind her was Mylius Zeramuski, sobbing as well and carrying a pistol in his hands. Kayla gawked at him, Nac's blood still spattered over her hands, as he lifted the gun to his mouth and suddenly whirled around.

"No!" Kayla shrieked as Mylius pulled the trigger, his own blood spilling over her hands and the surrounding area as he collapsed, lifeless to the ground.

" _This freak killed himself with a gun after his precious boy-toy Nac offed himself! What the fuck is going on?! Why are they here, and why are they reenacting their deaths?!"_

There was only one other person left, the third and most infamous of Kayla's victims, and Kayla shuddered as she heard her approaching.

When she turned to her right, she beheld Mina Carolina, looking terrified out of her wits, approaching her slowly. Kayla could only watch as Mina suddenly started to scream.

"No, no, please!" the lesbian girl shrieked as without warning, cut wounds and bruises began to appear on her body, blood dripping everywhere.

Kayla tried to back away from her, and in response, Mina started to almost run forward as the multitude of wounds increased. More and more knife marks appeared all over her body, and Kayla shuddered when she remembered that the knife in her hand was responsible.

Overhead, the sickly green color of the stormy sky rapidly twisted into a rusty scarlet as the lightning increased in intensity, and Mina bolted forward towards Kayla. Kayla panicked, and knew that she was seeing for the first time just how her boyfriend had murdered the dyke.

Suddenly, Mina paused, and the fear seemed to disappear from her entirely. Kayla watched in confusion as the girl paused close to her, and put out her right hand in a stop signal, telling somebody unseen to not approach her.

And then, Mina's neck was sliced open, a crimson stream of blood erupting violently and splattering Kayla's hands further as the lesbian girl collapsed to the ground unmoving.

Kayla screamed and screamed in horror as she looked down at her hands, the blood of three people soaking them. She looked up to the sky and shouted a manic plea.

"God, please help me!"

Without any warning, the dark woman appeared before her, snarling and emitting an aura of vengeance. Kayla couldn't move, her fear paralyzing her as the frightening woman screamed at her.

" **YOUR BLOOD-SOAKED FAITH CREATES NOTHING BUT DEATH!"**

The woman beckoned around her to the three corpses dotting the area, their blood continuing to seep out of their wounds.

Kayla shuddered as the woman approached her, her voice lowering to a sinister whisper.

" **Behold the fruits of your hatred, vermin, and know the price of your sin!"'**

With that, the dark woman disappeared, leaving Kayla alone with the corpses of her victims as the sky raged all around her. Kayla sobbed harshly as she took in their lifeless faces.

She made herself walk away towards Sansburg Hall, but froze when she heard low growling behind her. Kayla looked over her shoulder, and gawked in horror at what she saw.

The three corpses slowly rose from the ground, almost like puppets reassembled by their master, twitching violently and snarling as they began to transform.

One by one, Nac, Mylius and Mina's skin turned hideously scarlet and scaly, their mouths opened impossibly wide as their teeth lengthened into viciously sharp fangs, and violent screams of fury ripped out from each of them.

Kayla screamed and ran as fast as she could towards Sansburg Hall, with the three corpse demons in hot pursuit. Sansburg Hall loomed up in the distance, looking obsidian black in the midst of the blood-colored stormy sky.

When she arrived at the front entrance, Kayla threw open the doors and bolted up to the elevator, pounding on the call button frantically as she heard the shrieks of her pursuers coming closer. It took a moment for the elevator to lower to the ground floor, opening hesitantly and allowing Kayla inside.

She ran in, and slammed the key marked "4", making the doors close, and Kayla felt the elevator lurch into life, initiating a painfully slow climb upwards.

" _What's happening?!"_ she thought, sweating profusely as she waited to be delivered to her floor. _"They all look like bloodthirsty demons!"_

As the elevator approached the 4th floor of Sansburg Hall, Kayla gagged as an overwhelming stench of burning blood filled her lungs. The metal doors emitted a high-pitched shrieking noise as they opened, and Kayla was allowed to see what had befallen her floor.

A horrific, churning miasma of blood and fire had spread across the floors and walls of the 4th floor, consuming everything in sight and leaving nothing untouched. It looked like her floor had transformed into Hell itself.

Kayla gagged and ran as fast as she could down the hall towards her room, the intense heat choking her. The miasma pulsed around her rapidly, and seemed to be responding to her presence by converging on her spot, surrounding her and threatening to burn her alive.

She did her best to evade the sentient, gory mass and bolted towards her room, which Kayla could see was just down the hall, silently beckoning to her. As the miasma swirled around her, she ran past Armin's door, and couldn't help but pause when she heard the voices behind it.

" **I WANT HER DEAD!** " she heard a woman shriek from behind the door, along with a chorus of weeping, disembodied voices clamoring to be heard.

Despite her aching desire to flee, Kayla was frozen to the spot in fright as she heard the deathly choir combine into one low, chilling voice.

" **Kaylaaaaaaa..."**

The blackened door suddenly began to slowly swing inward, giving her a glimpse of what must've been the core of the miasma, a nexus of scarlet fire mixed in with seething blood, and within, a crippled figure sneering at her with razor-sharp teeth.

After making herself snap out of her fearful paralysis, Kayla ran to her door, shoved the key in the lock and pushed it open, running inside and slamming the door shut behind her.

It was pitch-black inside her room, but Kayla refused to turn on the light, wanting to allow herself a moment to breathe. She clutched at her sides, heaving and shaking as she tried to calm down and think of an escape plan as the thunder continued to boom right outside her window, the hellish sky lit up over and over again by the arcing lightning.

A low, cold laugh suddenly resounded just behind her, and Kayla whirled around to behold Armin sneering at her, showing once more his mouth filled with demonically sharp teeth that glistened in the outside flashes of lightning.

Kayla didn't even have a chance to scream as Armin's form rotted away before her. His skin molted away into the same hideous, scaly-scarlet hue of the corpses demons, his hands twisting into violent claws tipped with curved black talons, and his lips peeling away so that his horrific grin was widened even further. His blonde hair was now mottled into a greasy black, slickened and slimy.

When she tried to back away, the three other demons suddenly emerged from the shadows of her room, shrieking in maniacal fury as they clutched her arms, holding her in place as Armin approached her, a sadistic gleam flashing in his blue eyes, the only original part of him that remained untainted by his transformation.

Just before he stabbed her with his talons, Armin roared in her face **"You will BURN!"**

With that, all four of the nightmarish creatures pierced Kayla with their talons, and at once, it felt as if her blood itself had turned into fire within her. A pain worse than anything she had ever felt coursed through her body as all she could do was scream in agony.

Violent images of her victims cowering and weeping flashed through her mind's eye, along with the messages she had exchanged with Zach plotting the murders of Mina and Armin. Kayla could only watch the images flash before her as her extreme pain went on and on.

* * *

The door to her bedroom was slammed aside by a security officer clutching a master key in his hand. Kayla was in her bed, shaking uncontrollably as her screaming slowly subsided.

She fell off it, landing with a thud, and the guard rushed to her and lifted her back up, as Kayla noticed the rest of the 4th floor peering into her room, gawking at her like she was an exotic zoo animal.

" _D-don't look at me!"_ she silently pleaded, noticing that Hannah was looking at her with an expression of realization.

" _No, no, don't tell me that she suddenly knows what I did!"_

* * *

 _In his own dream, blissfully unaware of the horrors that Kayla was suffering elsewhere, Armin found himself in what looked like a changing room, with a large mirror covered by a dark blue cloth standing before him. To his left, the woman who had rescued him in the farmer's market long ago stood by him, looking grief-stricken._

" _Child, please cease your hatred!" the woman pleaded, and Armin looked at her in utter confusion._

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Your hatred! It's marring your own soul at this point!"_

 _Armin said to her "But…they deserve to suffer for what they did to me! All of them! Why wouldn't I be justified in hating them?"_

 _At that, the woman bit her lip in regret, and slowly yanked the cover off of the mirror, enabling Armin to finally see his reflection._

 _He screamed in fright at his demonic doppelganger, horrified to see the mottled, twisted figure looking at him._

* * *

"Armin, wake up!" he heard Jean yell as he woke up screaming in alarm.

He was back in room 327 of Wickson Hall, with Jean shaking him desperately. When his roommate saw that he was awake, Jean breathed a huge sigh of relief, and sat on Armin's bed, looking worried.

"J-Jean?" Armin shakily asked him. "What…"

"You suddenly started screaming in your sleep. I woke up to see you thrashing about madly, and I did what I could to wake you up. Armin, what the fuck did you see?"

Armin shuddered, and told him "I saw myself."


	12. Lamentations

**Trigger Warning: Discussion of Suicide/Suicidal Thoughts, Graphic Violence and Survivor's Guilt**

 _Immediately after hearing the Watcher's ominous message echo throughout the hall, Elise's nightmare disappeared, and the girl was left in a period of dreamless sleep. After an unknown period of time passed for Elise, she found herself revisiting a painfully beautiful memory._

 _She found herself sitting at the edge of the lake bordering her town, with a wondrous starlit sky overhead, reflected in the lake's mirror-like surface. Elise looked down at herself, and to her confusion, saw that she was in a much younger form, looking like herself at the age of 15. When she turned to her right, she froze in alarm at the sight of who was with her._

 _Mina Carolina, beaming at Elise in her own 15-year old form, sat next to her, brimming with joy. All Elise could do was gawk at her, alarmed at the appearance of the girl she had abandoned for the chance to be with the popular crowd._

" _Isn't it beautiful, Elise?" Mina innocently asked. "I wish we could stay here forever, gazing at the stars like this."_

 _Elise was unable to answer, wrapped up in the shock of seeing the dead girl in front of her, and the memory she treasured so deeply coming to life before her. She began to shake violently as her suppressed grief emerged, and tears began to bead in the corners of her eyes._

 _Mina watched her in horror as Elise collapsed into loud sobbing, choked up completely and unable to speak._

" _Elise?!" Mina asked. "What's wrong?"_

 _After weeping for a long moment, Elise looked right into Mina's doe-like brown eyes and wailed "I let you die, Mina!"_

 _Her ex-best friend looked at her in confusion as Elise continued, sobbing "I let those monsters kill you, and I did nothing to stop them!"_

 _The confusion on Mina's face changed into a somber, solemn look as she slowly stood up, transforming from her pre-high school self into the girl she was at the time of her death, forcibly matured by the hatred that she had been put through, and looking down at Elise with sadness._

 _Elise felt herself similarly transform into her current form, and couldn't even make herself stand up, her grief was so overwhelming._

" _Elise…" Mina said gently, no malice evident in her tone or her look as Elise continued to weep._

" _I-I…I'm so sorry!" Elise screamed, the violent memory of Mina's murder at Zach's hand still prevalent in her mind._

 _Mina shook her head gently and told Elise "It wasn't your fault."_

" _Yes it was!" Elise argued, remembering her apathy towards the sadism Kayla and Clair showed the lesbian girl. "All I did was watch as those c—ts plotted your death!"_

" _Behind your back, without you knowing," Mina told her, her sad, solemn expression unwavering._

" _It's my fault that you got killed!"_

" _No, it isn't Elise!" Mina shouted back, shutting Elise up as she spoke forcibly._

" _Listen to me! Yes, it can't be denied that you chose to abandon me in a mad bid to be one of the popular girls at our high school. That was wrong, that was incredibly selfish, but I forgave you for that long ago! You had nothing to do with my murder, Elise, and you can't keep going on hating yourself for what happened to me! Your self-hatred isn't helping anybody, and I can't stand you destroying yourself like this!"_

 _Elise said back "B-but I can't forgive myself! I deserve to die for what I did to you! You died alone in that park, without anybody to save you!"_

" _No!" Mina yelled, pleading and desperate. "Elise, you can't wish death on yourself for this! And you're needed here to ensure that justice is done for me, and for Armin too! I didn't die alone, and you'll understand what I mean in due time. I'm begging you, accept the fact that I don't hold any of this against you, and allow yourself to move on!"_

 _All Elise could do was kneel before Mina, continuing to weep, and think about her past transgressions against the innocent girl._

" _Please, Elise!" Mina begged her. "Forgive yourself, and let go!"_

" _I-is it really ok?" Elise asked her, heavily unwilling to cease her self-hatred._

" _ **Yes**_ _," Mina answered, holding a hand out to her, which Elise shakily took._

 _Elise was lifted up, and the instant she stood, she tackled hugged Mina in an iron embrace, like she was drowning and clutching on for dear life. Mina held her back tenderly, and rubbed her back as Elise wailed to her._

" _I love you, Mina!" Elise sobbed, heartbroken and only beginning to forgive herself._

" _I love you too, Elise."_

* * *

The morning after her horrific nightmare, Kayla frantically called her mother, aching for some small bit of comfort.

"What do you want?" Maggie answered, openly irritated at the call.

"M-mom, I came close to dying last night!" Kayla told her, still horrified at the image of Armin, Mylius, Nac and Mina attacking her in their demonic forms.

"What the fuck are you babbling about?"

"I had the same horrifying experience as Clair, and I barely avoided being left in a coma like she was!"

"Oh, stop with the bullshit!" Maggie snapped back. "That friend of yours let herself get overwhelmed by one stupid bad dream, and from the sounds of it, so did you."

"What?" Kayla answered, alarmed but realizing that her mother's cynicism wasn't at all surprising. "Mom, I was told last night by something that was probably an angel that God's mad at me for what I've done! I'm terrified that if I keep going at this, something much worse than a nightmare could happen to me!"

"God's nothing but a joke to me!"

Kayla stopped, disturbed at what her mother had said.

"Wait, what?!"

"You heard me, you little brat!" Maggie screamed in her ear. "God allowed that fucking faggot of a husband to turn on me and leave me, and for that, I'll never forgive Him! Besides, God's sided with those trash for this long, and I've got no reason to trust in Him!"

"You and Zach could be next!"

"As if!" Maggie shouted back. "Get over yourself and your stupid fears, and do your fucking job already! If necessary, I'll gladly come up there and ensure that the blonde faggot gets what he deserves. But don't you dare end up being weak like your cock-sucking father!"

With that, Maggie abruptly ended the call, leaving Kayla alone in her dorm room, knowing that she was completely alone, with not even her mother willing to offer her any support.

" _I can't keep doing this!_ " she thought, wiped out and on edge. _"If I keep trying to kill Armin, I can only imagine what could happen to me next!"_

" _Not even my Mom is on my side, and all of those other cowards have abandoned me…"_

None of her "friends" had talked to her after seeing her collapse from the nightmare's power. All of them had evidently gone to Levi and confessed their role in the scheme against Armin, and it was likely that at least one of them had listed Kayla as the ringleader.

Kayla was alone, and lonelier than ever before. She continued to quiver in horror at what the nightmare had shown her, and there was one image out of all the rest that she couldn't hope to understand.

" _Why the hell was Mina doing, suddenly stopping like that and putting her hand up so randomly? It looked like she was saying 'stop' to somebody else! But…Zach never mentioned anybody coming to her aid that night. So who could've…?"_

* * *

Later that night, Annie was left alone in her dorm room, with Mikasa gone home for the weekend, and the two lovebirds Krista and Ymir out partying late into the evening, bound to not return until the early hours of the morning. She stood by her dorm room's window, gazing at the night sky, the lights in her room off and allowing the outside moon and stars to filter in. Her mind wandered over everything she had learned about Mina from Elise.

" _My best friend died alone in that park, with nobody around to save her. If only I had been there with her, I would've slaughtered that bastard Zach like a pig! I failed her, and I feel disgusting for not being with her when she needed me the most…."_

" _Not to mention…"_ Annie thought, shuddering as the image of the dark woman screaming those violent words reemerged in her mind's eye. _"That woman, that…entity. Who is she? I've wondered for the longest time what the nature of her existence is. I've studied Jungian psychology in my classes, and I can't help but wonder if she's the manifestation of Armin's desire for a strong mother figure to protect him after the shit he was put through."_

" _If she isn't that…is she…a demon?"_

" **I am no demon, Annie Leonhardt."**

Annie whirled around, and beheld the entity standing only a few feet away from her at the end of her dorm room, standing between the beds calmly but imposingly, with a stern look on her face.

"Y-you!" Annie gasped out, involuntarily shuddering at the woman's sudden appearance. "What are you doing here?!"

" **I am a servant of the Most High, although my ways may be seen as unorthodox by some. I came here to answer your accusations against me, and to put an end to your anger against Him who saved Armin,"** the Watcher answered.

It took Annie only a moment to understand what the woman was saying. The disparity between Mina and Armin's trauma had been weighing heavily on her mind, and she couldn't help but ponder over a serious question.

She gritted her teeth in frustration, and snapped at the Watcher "Fine! Since you clearly can read my mind, let's just cut to the chase. While I'm grateful that Armin is safe, you all didn't do the same for Mina, and arguably, she suffered far worse things than him! You let her get killed that night, and of course my heart's hardened over that!"

The Watcher's stony expression didn't change as she answered **"You do not know the entire truth of that night, as there was one thing that the girl did not see in the vision presented to her. Mina Carolina, despite what you, Elise and even that wretched worm Kayla believe, did not die alone that night."**

"What the hell are you talking about?" Annie shouted at her, infuriated and not interested in the riddle.

" **If you want to see, I need your consent first,** " the Watcher told her.

Annie rolled her eyes and said coldly "Quit beating around the bush and show me, then!"

Without any other warning, the Watcher's stone-gray eyes suddenly glowed with a blinding white light, and Annie froze in alarm as her consciousness was suddenly transported into a vivid memory.

* * *

The Watcher materialized in the park a few feet away from the violent scene before her, snarling as she unsheathed her blade, aching to rip the bastard's soul from his body and to send him to Judgment before her King.

" _ **You're mine, you disgusting vermin!"**_ she thought as she flew towards Mina, ready to intervene and save the girl.

As she approached her, Mina stopped fighting back as she noticed the woman coming in her peripheral vision. To the Watcher's alarm, Mina suddenly threw her right hand up in a silent command to stop, and the Watcher paused in confusion. She had been ordered to respect the girl's free will before descending to the scene, and was unable to budge further.

In that moment, Zach sneered and slit Mina's throat in one swift, brutal motion.

" **NO!"** the Watcher shrieked, emitting an earth-splitting cry of horror that only Mina could hear, as the girl fell back onto the grass, unable to move as Zach cackled over her.

"Have fun choking on your filthy blood, dyke!" he snarled as he trounced away, flicking her blood off his pocketknife as he left Mina to die.

After regaining her composure, the Watcher slowly walked up to the girl, and knelt at her side, trembling with grief as she beheld Mina's ragged body. The girl's brown eyes were dimly focused on her, and there was only gloominess in the gaze that rested on the angel.

" **Why?!"** the Watcher wailed to her. **"Why did you forbid me from intervening?! I could have slaughtered that boy and saved you! So why?!"**

Mina grimaced, and tears began to spill out of her eyes as she mustered a whispering response:

"P-please…just let it all end."

The Watcher froze up in horror at the recognition of the plea's meaning, as Mina continued.

"I'm so…tired. So…tired. Please…end it. End my pain, here…and now."

" _ **This girl…she…no longer has any will to live."**_

The Watcher placed her hand over Mina's face, and slowly waved it over her body. As she did, the stars seemed to brighten all at once, and a pillar of silvery light opened up over the girl's body. Mina's ragged breathing slowly halted as the pillar of light gradually closed up, until the girl finally ceased all movement.

Mina Carolina's lifeless eyes gazed up at the heavens as the light disappeared, leaving the Watcher to bow her head in sorrow and shame.

* * *

Annie's mouth lay agape in horror as the vision ended, the Watcher's eyes returning to normal.

"M-Mina wanted to die?!" Annie wailed, starting to hyperventilate as her body shook violently with repressed grief.

She sobbed and shuddered, and would've collapsed hard onto the floor had the Watcher not fled to her side, catching the girl in her iron grip.

" **It wasn't your fault!"** the Watcher told her, as Annie wailed on and on.

The Watcher's stone-cold expression softened deeply, and she whispered to Annie in a much more gentle tone **"It wasn't your fault."**

For a long minute, Annie remained unable to speak as she wept over Mina's agony, and the Watcher held her in a soothing embrace. The horror of everything that Annie had learned about Mina's death was overwhelming, the bitter truth of Mina's desire for death too much to bear.

" **Child,"** the Watcher whispered as Annie kept sobbing. **"Listen to me, and allow me to explain."**

" **By that summer, Mina Carolina longed for death, and despised living to the utmost degree. Everything that she had suffered, the taunting, the online cruelty that followed her everywhere, and the more minor physical assaults that occurred during her senior year…all of it became too much for her to bear. At that time, Mina saw no hope for the future, and ached for her agony to end. Because their hatred constantly, daily surrounded her, Mina felt that there was only one way to escape it all."**

" **At the time of her death, Mina Carolina had been plotting suicide, and fully intended to end her own life before autumn came that year. When Zach began his attack, midway through, she decided to stop fighting for survival, because she viewed her murder as an easier way out, a 'convenient' way to achieve the end of her pain."**

Annie whimpered to her "Mina…never told me…she…didn't mention…"

The Watcher nodded sadly and told her **"She felt that telling you would place an unfair burden on your heart, Annie Leonhardt. You see, nothing you or her mother could say would have stopped her from committing suicide. Mina was planning to drown herself in the lake that she and Elise once visited before you all started high school, to die in a place that once gave her peace. In her mind, she decided that telling you two would have made your grief much more deep, and thus chose to keep it a secret."**

It all made too much sense to Annie, as she racked her mind for her last memories of Mina when she was alive. Her best friend was already looking shattered and broken the last time they saw each other before that terrible night in the park, the joy she had once emitted snuffed out.

"I-I had no idea…," Annie said, her longstanding guilt coming to the surface. "If only I had known…I could've tried to help her…"

" **You and Helen both did everything in your power to help her,"** the Watcher answered. **"Neither of you were apathetic in fighting to stop her torment, and she died grateful for all that you two did for her. Nobody blames you for not doing enough, child, especially not Mina herself. Please understand that."**

"B-but, I feel like a failure! I felt so powerless back then, unable to hunt down her harassers and make them suffer for what they had done, and now, I feel useless! I hate myself for leaving her side after graduating from that damned high school, and I can't forgive myself for not being with her in her last moments!"

" **You must forgive yourself!"** the Watcher told her firmly. **"Nobody blames you for any of this, only you yourself! This is not what Mina wanted you to do, Annie, she never wanted you to blame yourself for what happened! You must let go of your self-imposed guilt!"**

Annie looked up at her meekly, and whispered "I-is it…really ok?"

The Watcher said to her patiently " **Yes, child."**

Annie let out a long sigh of grief and exhaustion, and suddenly clutched at the Watcher's arms, provoking a look of alarm in the woman's face.

"Please!" Annie quietly begged. "Please, let me see Mina again!"

In response, the Watcher looked down at her in silent horror, her mouth agape, and to Annie's shock, the woman silently wept. Two solitary silver tears, one falling from each grey eye, slipped down the angel's face.

The Watcher, after letting her tears dry, told Annie gently **"You…will see her soon, child."**

She then lifted Annie off the floor, and carried the girl to her bed. Annie was utterly exhausted from the catharsis of her grief and guilt, and could feel an immense wave of exhaustion rushing over her. As the Watcher carried her, the woman continued to speak softly.

" **While I know that you consider yourself to still be at odds with Elise, you and that girl are two sides of the same coin. Both of you despised yourselves for seemingly enabling Mina's suffering, although you never played any role in it. It is time for you two to understand that Mina is forever at peace, and that you must put your grief to rest at last."**

Annie was laid on her bed gently, and the Watcher held her hand as Annie softly whispered her best friend's name, aching more than anything to see her again.

"Mina…Mina…Mina…" Annie muttered, her eyes slowly closing shut until her exhaustion overtook her.

* * *

 _Annie found herself walking hand in hand with Elise, both of them silently weeping as they walked in tandem through the aisle of a multitude of people robed in black, set outside on a verdant plain of green grass. The two girls were wearing midnight-blue dresses, and each carrying a bouquet of white lilies._

 _The crowd sang a sad, soft hymn as the girls continued to walk, approaching the front of the crowd, where the Watcher stood somberly over a wooden casket. When the two girls finally came near it, they saw that Mina rested inside, her eyes closed and her body purified of her wounds, dressed in black robes._

 _They gently set their bouquets inside, placing the flowers on Mina's body. The instant they did, her body was suddenly covered in a glowing white light._

 _The two girls watched in awe as the lilies transformed into dozens of dancing white butterflies that spun around them, as the casket disappeared into the light._

 _When the light receded, Mina Carolina reappeared before them in an incandescent white robe, beaming at them like she did before her suffering began._

 _Mina gently took both of her best friends' free hands, and the three girls were lifted into the air by the power of the fluttering butterflies. The Watcher smiled peacefully up at the trio as the crowd below changed the somber tone of their hymn into a rising, gloriously beautiful song of praise._

 _The three of them were lifted high, high into the air, soaring into the clouds until they came to a resting stop midair, over a massive city comprised of many precious stones, looking almost like a rainbow. In the middle of the immense city stood a towering figure comprised of wondrous many-colored light, which shone bright throughout the city and sky surrounding it._

 _Annie and Elise felt their tears drying, and finally allowed themselves to beam as they slowly spun in midair with Mina, who was nothing but overjoyed. At last, Annie felt herself letting go of her self-imposed burden, and sighed peacefully as her sorrow slipped away._


	13. The Plan

Armin and Reiner sat in room 327, enjoying an evening of solitude after Jean had made a split decision to return home for the night. Reiner had received Armin's urgent text about the nightmarish scene he had seen the night before, and had not hesitated to ensure that they would be together to talk that evening.

Reiner held Armin as the smaller boy shook with frightened tears, the demon in the mirror still haunting him.

"Whatever I thought I was going to see, I didn't think I'd see an evil-looking version of me!" he told Reiner, unable to stop shuddering after opening up about the nightmare.

Reiner bit his lip, and sheepishly told Armin "What that woman said to you…buddy, it's too similar to what I tried to tell you after hearing you wish for Clair to never wake up from her coma. You've been hating these people for so long, that it's been twisting you into somebody far worse than they ever were."

"I'm not a monster!"

"I know you aren't, I didn't say that," Reiner answered. "But I need you to understand that most likely, you were given a warning that you've allowed yourself to get carried away with the grudge that you were holding."

Armin wiped away at his tears, and meekly asked Reiner "What am I supposed to do? Just randomly forgive them? Even when it's pretty damn obvious that none of them want to own up to what they did, or to the fact that they were seriously plotting to kill me?"

"While I'm not saying that you should up and forgive them like that, Armin, I think you need to do some introspecting and understand that the woman had a point she was trying to make you understand. It's simple. At this point, the only person getting harmed by the extreme amount of hatred you have…is **you** , buddy."

Despite his objections, Armin realized with a sinking feeling that Reiner was right. His recent malicious wishes were definitely out of character for him, and even Annie had expressed concern at one point; Annie Leonhardt, of all people, the girl who had no qualms about snarling that she would kill them herself, was disturbed at how openly sadistic Armin had seemingly become.

Armin sighed deeply and mumbled "I guess…both of you are right then. It's so hard to not feel justified in wanting them to hurt like they hurt me, though."

"This stuff takes time, buddy," Reiner answered. "But it does require a first step."

Reiner glanced at his phone, and grimaced when he saw that it was much later than either of them had anticipated. He gave Armin an apologetic look, but Armin simply smiled and nodded at him in response.

"I'm sorry, buddy, but I have early morning plans tomorrow. Keep me posted, ok?"

"Gladly, Reiner. And thank you."

Reiner got up to leave, but for he walked away, he bent close to Armin, looking even more hesitant, along with a telltale gleam of desire in his amber eyes. Armin couldn't help but giggle when he realized what was coming.

He leaned forward, and at last, the two boys exchanged their first kiss after weeks of awkward waiting. Reiner's lips were strong yet soft to the touch of Armin's own, and the two remained like statues for what felt like an hour.

When Armin finally pulled back, he could feel his cheeks burning crimson, and Reiner's were too. Reiner cracked a goofy grin as he continued his exit.

"G-goodnight, buddy," he said as he opened the door, flustered out of his mind.

"Goodnight, Reiner."

After he left, Armin yawned, and went to turn of the room light, aching for sleep himself. He laid on his bed, contemplating the bizarre things he had seen and learned.

" _Clair mentioned something about Kayla and the others having nightmares with me as the enemy. What does that mean? Did they see the same thing I saw in the mirror last night? I haven't been causing nightmares with my hate…have I?"_

" _And there's also Uncle Joey. He's planning on coming up here next week. It's time. I have too many questions that I need to ask him, especially about him and Dad…but also, I want to know what happened to him after he was assaulted that night."_

He drifted off into sleep soon afterwards.

* * *

 _As Armin slept peacefully in room 327 of Wickson Hall, the Watcher robed in black materialized next to the boy's bed, wearing a catlike smirk as her brother followed suit._

 _He was in his warrior form, adorned in blue-gold plated armor, and carrying with him a massive shield bearing the image of the roaring Lion of Judea, where the following words were inscribed around the perimeter: Quis ut Deus?_

 _By all accounts, he was a doppelganger of the renowned policeman William Arlert, except for his piercing gray eyes, and his intimidating stature of 8', his build surpassing even that of Armin's late father. The Warrior looked at his sister with unhidden disdain, and she scoffed in response._

" _ **Oh, come now, dear brother,"**_ _she said, her smugness remaining steadfast._ _ **"Do you truly hold it against me that I carried out my duty with the fervor known to us all?"**_

" _Fervor?" he answered, his voice soft but deep and resounding. "You call your sadism towards those girls_ _ **fervor**_ _? I watched you sneer as they were beset with the nightmares that you unleashed!"_

" _ **I am the Angel of Vengeance, not the Angel of Mercy, brother. Yes, I had no qualms ensuring that those miserable wretches suffered the punishment due to them for the suffering they gave to those poor children. I regret nothing."**_

 _The Warrior remained stoic as he pressed on, telling her "By all means, He gave you the command to bring justice upon them, I know that to be true. But you went too far with that thing you created!"_

" _ **You mean, my child?"**_ _the Watcher answered, and pulled back her lips into a sinister grin as they both recalled the horrific visage of Armin's demonic clone._

" _Yes!" he snapped back. "You took the murderous hatred seething in this child's heart and projected it as his own thoughts in their nightmares! You led those people into believing that Armin wanted to kill them!"_

" _ **I gave voice to the darkness in his heart, it is true,"**_ _she admitted._ _ **"But do not forget, brother, that his hate, while diminishing after what the Holy Mother showed him, is real. He truly wanted those vermin dead, and while his desires were certainly not what He desired, it is how humans tend to react when told that they deserve death for merely existing."**_

" _Even so, I can't help but disagree with your tactics."_

" _ **Humph. That's what you lot say all the time."**_

 _The Warrior glanced at the corner of the room where "Shane" had appeared not too long ago, and the Watcher followed his gaze, her smile disappearing into an angry scowl as she recognized the spot._

" _ **That treacherous little-"**_

" _Be careful, sister," the Warrior reproached her. "Not even I go about cursing that fiend."_

" _ **But I despise him for what he planned to do to this child! Taking that accursed brat's form in an attempt to employ spiritual terrorism, in a mad bid to stop this plan from working."**_

" _Yes, I know. It becomes even more sinister, considering that the girl you despise, Kayla, is being targeted for redemption."_

" _ **While I understand that Kayla is being planned to be redeemed, that certainly did not stop me from punishing her for her cruelty. She gladly ensured that those three children died, and would have done the same to Armin Arlert if she had not been stopped. I am weary of human cruelty."**_

 _The Warrior glanced at her solemnly, and muttered "But that is not the only human thing you have grown weary over, correct?"_

 _In response, the Watcher grimaced, her eyes falling to the floor as they both recalled the dual grief of Elise and Annie over the truth of Mina's death._

" _ **Obviously, the thing I fear the most in this universe is His fury towards all things evil,"**_ _she said, looking forlorn._ _ **"But a close second truly is the depths of human loneliness, and the immense pain that it can create."**_

" _ **When that girl begged me to let her see Mina again, I had to fight the urge to weep uncontrollably. Both of those girls, with their deep-seated guilt, and most of all, Mina herself…that a human could despise life so much that they would greet death gladly, it saddens even me."**_

 _She looked back up at her brother, and asked him_ _ **"What will you do now? There still remain a handful of loose ends to be tied up. Namely, that bastard, Zach. He must be brought to justice!"**_

 _Zach's cruelty, and his refusal to feel an ounce of remorse for his murder of Mina Carolina was infamous among their squad. The Warrior frowned bitterly, and shook his head in disappointment at the boy's inherent malice._

" _My protégé will take care of that," he said, referring to the policewoman whom William Arlert had trained personally. "She has ached and hungered for the opportunity to give Mina the justice her town refused to offer, and now that the cards have been played accordingly, the time to strike has come."_

" _ **Good!"**_ _she spat in response._ _ **"Better for you to deal with the brat, than for me to rip him asunder like I have ached to since watching him hunt that girl down like he did!"**_

 _The Watcher had made it known over and over again that just as Eleanor Arlert had once threatened to violently kill anybody who would attempt to hurt Armin for being gay, she herself had wanted to make Zach scream in torment if she had been allowed to attain the vengeance she desired._

 _Her brother nodded, glad for Zach's sake that his vengeful sibling hadn't been given permission to lay waste like she desired._

" _Leave the rest to me, sister," the warrior told her. "I will ensure that nothing befalls Armin. Neither Zach nor anybody else will be allowed to harm him."_

" _ **Good. But do not forget, that the true monster behind all of this will seek to finish this in a few weeks,"**_ _the Watcher told him, and the Warrior knew at once that she was referring to Maggie, Kayla's horrifically cruel mother._

" _Yes, I know. I know that it was that vile woman who supplied Zach with that knife, knowing fully that he would use it to take Mina's life. Maggie is also responsible for the deaths of those innocents, and I will ensure that she is brought to justice."_

 _The Watcher smiled coldly up at him, and as she disappeared from sight, she whispered to him_ _ **"Go forth, and may justice be done upon them."**_

 _At last, he was finally left alone with the boy he had saved from a dark fate years ago, when Armin had only been a child unaware of the selfish cruelty in the hearts of men. The Warrior still remembered what those disgusting men had planned to do to Armin after kidnapping him, and held no regrets about ending their lives._

 _The Warrior tenderly ruffled Armin's hair as the boy slept, smiling gently down at him._

" _It's time, my buddy," he said softly, despite knowing that Armin couldn't hear him. "It's time to put an end to this cycle of hatred, to save you from that awful woman…and…to save Kayla from herself, too."_


End file.
